Over the past decade, we’ve missed some golden opportunities within our education system. Now might be the perfect time to shake things up with fresh ideas for CPD and training. If we want a sustainable and effective education system, we need to work smarter and more efficiently. Fortunately, we already have many of the necessary groups and networks in place, along with the ‘will and the skill‘ to make it happen. These initiatives aim to foster collegial teacher development and create a culture of cohesion and collaboration—offering benefits to everyone who gets on board.

So, why not be a bit braver and bring these ideas to life? We’ve got the expertise and the staff to do it, so here are my thoughts:

✅ Enhance Pay and Access to Centralised Funding:

Improved Compensation: Budgets are already overstretched and examiner pay needs to be looked at in terms of equity across the UK – this won’t be solved anytime soon unless budgets increase. An alternative money saving exercise could involve schools applying for funding to cover for teachers during a ‘Marking Day’ or they could incorporate two external marking days into the School Development Day (SDD) calendar. Again, this could be based on need and intake (2021 FOI request for deprivation measures and schools) – schools could apply or receive funding, perhaps via the RAISE programme, to release teachers to attend CPD or examination seminars. Teachers return then to their respective schools and share their insights with their departments (perhaps in a third Feedback SDD session) benefiting everyone and spreading expertise. This process could also be integrated with self-evaluation and focused on specific departments, exam sections, topics or courses, perhaps incorporating CCEA analytics and past papers or modelling good practice. Head teachers can be reluctant to grant leave for CPD, due to costs and cover, so this might provide a financial and professional incentive that can be planned, evaluated and reviewed each year, giving various teachers a chance to become ‘Learning Leaders’.

✅ Link to Professional Development Portfolio:

EPD and PRSD Integration: link examiner roles or experience to part of the Early Professional Development (EPD) or Performance Review and Staff Development (PRSD) processes. This could make the role of examiner or moderator more desirable and could then be linked to teaching and learning or action planning. PRSD could focus on aspects of the specification – topics or units – and would encourage the sharing of good practice with staff in respective schools. RQTs benefit from the experience and confidence building around examinations and specifications, and schools gain experience and expertise across subjects or departments. Overall, this could support the raising of standards and help RQTs fulfil aspects of the job applications with greater diversity and experience teaching exam classes and leading training or collaboration.

✅ Examiner Certification for New Teachers:

Certification Programme: Offer a two-day ‘Examiner Certification’ or enrollment for PGCE students and/or Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs). These sessions could be held over the summer, or during the academic year, to build an examiners roster, and support EPD. Experienced examiners could lead subject-specific in-house training days, providing valuable resources and insights for staff – thus lifting the burden on staff or leaders who plan and organise training – perhaps even encouraging subject based SDDs rather than perpetuating the culture of ‘having everybody in the assembly hall for a full of half day training or ‘differentiation days’ – the sheer cost and lack of efficiency of this alone is something to be looked. If we take a rough example using the median pay in England as £43,801 divided by 195 as per NASUWT daily rate, half a day amounts to £6,738 and a full day costs £13,477 – if we are serious about reinvigorating and ‘re-professionalising’ teaching, then we need to build in autonomy and leadership opportunities that are credible, accessible and commonplace, and that are effective in terms of time and cost.

✅ Familiarisation Days:

Exposure to GCSE and A level Specifications: Organise ‘Familiarisation Days’ for GCSE or A level specifications aimed at NQTs or PGCE students. These days would provide opportunities to understand the course content, discuss marking, teaching strategies, and course delivery. It could be linked to university elective modules or help build trusted colleague networks at an earlier stage of the training process, rather than just school based networks which can be limiting. This could contribute to a culture of shared practice and confidence for new teachers entering the tread mill of exams and schools.

✅ Cluster Groups for Marking Review:

Collaborative Review Sessions: Create cluster groups for teachers and Heads of Department to review marking practices. These sessions would not be agreement trials but rather collaborative reviews and professional dialogue. Grouping similar schools or forming clusters based on geographical or academic criteria could be particularly beneficial. It would also provide valuable feedback for the exam boards who could sit in and listen or partake in discussions around standards, exam processes or a chance to float new ideas going forwards.

✅ Comparative Judgement:

Innovative Marking Techniques: Utilise comparative judgement methods, such as ‘No More Marking’ set up by Daisy Christodoulou, to provide an alternative way of assessing student work, namely Controlled Assessment. This approach could help standardise marking across different examiners, centres or tasks.

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With new educational opportunities and reforms on the horizon, this is an excellent opportunity to refresh and enhance examiner retention and could coincide with teacher training strategies or planning. Implementing these suggestions could lead to a more motivated and skilled examiner workforce, ultimately benefiting the entire educational system and its pupils. Whilst this is merely one facet of CPD and training, it would only require a fraction of the planning and coordination to achieve compared to creating a new system or structure – again, a costly exercise which we cannot afford given our recent budgetary challenges. What is clear is that this needs to shaped by widespread teacher input and should be teacher-led.