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Improving professional learning for all
Teachers educators are surrounded by more research than ever before but finding the time to make sense of it, and knowing what really works to support others, can be difficult. The NIoT Evidence Portal was created to help. The Portal is designed to inform, not prescribe, helping teacher educators access, interpret and use research thoughtfully within their own context.
The NIoT Evidence Portal is a new resource for teachers and leaders involved in the training and development of others. It brings together rigorous, high-quality research and expert perspectives from schools and trusts. It’s designed to help teacher educators make confident, evidence-informed decisions about how they develop teaching and leadership practice.
Through the Portal, you can explore research that has been distilled into practical insights and tools to support your work. It currently includes two key features: the NIoT Evidence Toolkit, which summarises what the research says about professional learning approaches, and the ‘Your Questions’ page, which answers real queries from across the sector using relevant research. Together, they provide a trusted, easy-to-navigate space where research meets professional learning practice.
As the Portal develops, more resources will be added, including new interactive features and opportunities to share sector expertise, so that it continues to evolve in response to the priorities of schools, trusts, leaders of professional development and teachers.
The NIoT Evidence Toolkit brings together concise, trustworthy summaries of professional learning approaches drawn from systematic reviews of international research. It is organised into strands, each focusing on a specific approach to professional learning; for example, coaching, lesson study, or professional learning communities. Every strand summarises what the evidence shows about the approach’s effectiveness, its impact on teachers and pupils, and the key factors that support successful implementation. Each strand also includes an ‘In Practice’ section featuring insights from experienced teachers and leaders who share how they have applied these approaches across a range of contexts, offering practical examples of evidence-informed professional learning in action.
By pairing rigorous research with practitioner expertise, the Toolkit makes evidence usable, relevant, and ready to apply, so teachers and leaders across the country can benefit from a more evidence-informed approach to professional learning.
Read the full Toolkit technical report to learn more about how the Toolkit was developed.
The NIoT Evidence Toolkit draws on a a meta-review conducted by the NIoT Evidence Synthesis Team that explored the global research on initial teacher education and professional development. This meta-review brought together systematic summaries of research literature published between January 2013 and July 2025, creating one of the most comprehensive overviews of evidence in this field.
Each strand of the Toolkit is grounded in rigorous research that meets clear inclusion criteria. Only systematic reviews that demonstrate strong methodological rigour were included, ensuring that every insight is based on trustworthy and transparent research. You can explore the full list of studies that inform each strand at the bottom of the relevant Toolkit page.
Read the full Toolkit technical report for more detail on how the evidence was selected, reviewed, and assessed for quality.
To help users interpret the evidence with confidence, the NIoT Evidence Toolkit includes clear, transparent metrics that summarise both impact and research quality.
Metrics are provided at two levels:
Read the full Toolkit technical report for a detailed explanation of how the metrics were developed and quality-assured.
The ‘Your Questions’ page gives you the chance to shape the future direction of the NIoT Evidence Portal. Here, we provide clear, evidence-informed answers to professional learning questions submitted by teachers, leaders, and those involved in developing others.
When enough high-quality research exists, your question may help shape a future strand within the NIoT Evidence Toolkit. If not, we’ll draw on the best available evidence to respond directly on this page. Every answer follows a transparent and consistent method, so you can see how the evidence was sourced and interpreted. By inviting questions from across the sector, we aim to keep the Portal responsive to real priorities and challenges in professional learning.
Have a question about professional development? Submit it through our contact form or read the full ‘Your Questions’ technical report for details of how submissions are reviewed and responses developed.
You can be involved by signing up for updates, submitting a question through the site, or sharing your professional learning expertise. Your engagement will help us refine the Portal and ensure it meets the needs of schools, trusts, and teacher educators across the country.
We’re keen to feature professional learning experience from experts working across early years, primary, secondary, college, and specialist settings. If you’d like to share your experience and inspire others, please get in touch. Your ideas, experiences, and feedback will shape future updates and help ensure that the evidence remains practical, relevant, and rooted in the realities of teaching and leadership.
The NIoT Evidence Portal has been created by a dedicated team at the National Institute of Teaching, working closely with researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners from across the sector.
Project lead: Lia Commissar
Project team: Melissa Bond, Ollie Brady, Marta Ciesielska, Malcolm Drakes, Roisin Ellison, Violeta Negrea, Rebecca Underwood, Jordan Wood
We want the Portal to be as useful as possible. If you have questions, ideas, or insights to share, please get in touch. Help shape future updates and support others across the sector.