Scotland’s new Centre for Teaching Excellence (CfTE) was launched by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 3rd September 2025.
The Core focus of CfTE is to support teachers, including those in Gaelic education, to lead and engage with research and evidence, thereby developing their practice and delivering excellent teaching and learning.
CfTE represents a significant shift in how teacher learning is supported across Scotland. It marks an ambitious, innovative approach to professional learning nationally, aligned with the Scottish Government’s goal of improving outcomes for children and young people through increased research-informed, enquiry-based teaching in schools.
The Centre is teacher-centred and guided by teacher input, aligning closely with the GTCS Professional Standards. In short, CfTE is for teachers first and foremost.
CfTE’s model is based on delivering objectives through Core and Thematic Hubs. In taking this forward, key considerations include the Centre’s work being grounded in robust, research-informed principles for professional learning; a set of priorities for CfTE’s work that reflects the needs identified by the teaching profession and stakeholders in education; and a commitment to national reach and access.
An early national engagement exercise with teachers and stakeholders directly shaped the priorities now being taken forward through the Centre’s Hubs.
The first phase of CfTE’s development concentrated on the establishment of three Core Hubs:
- Teaching-focused Research Hub.
- Gaelic Education Hub.
- Rural Education and Learning for Sustainability.
Three Thematic Research Hubs have now been confirmed and will launch in January 2026, focusing on:
- Pedagogy to support attainment in diverse classrooms.
- Innovation in pedagogy to enhance classroom practice.
- Digital education and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advancing pedagogy.
CfTE will enable teachers to engage with research in various forms and deliver professional learning opportunities and resources through digital and physical Hubs, aligned with local and regional priorities.
To do this, teacher associates from across Scotland, spanning primary and secondary sectors and a wide range of local authorities, have been seconded to lead and coordinate the Centre’s work through a series of online and in-person opportunities in regionally based Hubs, where teachers can come together to engage in, generate, and disseminate research and enquiry focused on pedagogy and classroom practice.
Much of the initial focus has been on establishing the foundations and infrastructure to enable the Centre’s work to progress.
Working with other partners and stakeholders in education, such as EIS, has been an important part of this, particularly in clarifying the Centre’s role and unique contribution within the system.
With its focus on research, CfTE aims to be the space and place where teachers can access, use, generate, and disseminate research, while creating new collaborative ways of working across the system, designed to support, rather than add to, teachers’ professional workload, for example, through communities of practice and research-practice partnerships, led by the Hubs.
CfTE’s distinctiveness lies in its focus on pedagogy, its close partnership with teachers, and its role as a national space for research-informed professional learning led by the profession itself.
Over the coming year, teachers will be able to engage with CfTE’s work in a range of ways, including participating in hub activity, contributing to practitioner enquiry networks and accessing professional learning resources through the Centre’s digital platform.
Developing a new Centre at a time of change in Scottish education is exciting.
CfTE’s work is overseen by an internal steering committee and an Advisory Board comprising representatives from trade unions, professional associations, national education bodies, and the University of Glasgow. Representatives from EIS also serve on the Advisory Board, ensuring a strong, system-wide, professional voice.
Developing a new Centre at a time of change in Scottish education is exciting. With teacher associates now in post, Thematic Hubs launching, and a national digital platform being established, the Centre is beginning to translate its vision into practice.
We are at a pivotal moment in Scotland’s education reform journey, and we firmly believe that the Centre’s success will be achieved through collaboration with the education sector and Scotland’s universities.
It is also important not to lose sight of the significance of establishing CfTE – its innovative vision, commitment to teachers’ professional growth, and the importance of ongoing engagement with research to develop pedagogy and practice. There are a few comparable Centres internationally that share CfTE’s focus and ambition, demonstrating the value of sustained, research-informed professional learning led by teachers.
Professor Margery McMahon
Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence