Commenting on a new report published today (Thursday 15 July 2021) by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said:

“A key recommendation in our 2020 report ‘Improving Schools’ was that there should be a properly funded, national entitlement to high quality professional development for teachers and leaders. The evidence is clear – quality of teaching is, by a country mile, the most important driver of educational equity. Continuously improving core provision is likely to have significantly more impact on educational recovery than headline grabbing ‘add-ons’ to the school day.

“In addition to setting out the benefits of such an approach, this report shows that it is financially achievable as well. Put simply, the best contribution that government could make to support continuous improvement in schools is to value and invest in the profession.”