Trust-wide subject networks can be a powerful lever for school improvement, professional development and cultivating collective expertise in a subject or area.
Yet, as multi-academy trusts (MATs) across the UK increasingly turn to these networks as vehicles for collaboration and growth, the quality of their design and implementation becomes paramount. Without careful, context-sensitive leadership, even the most promising and well-meaning initiatives risk becoming superficial, unsustainable or misaligned with the school communities they serve.
So, how can trusts ensure that this doesn’t happen with their own subject networks?
Over the past 18 months, voluntary members of the Trust-wide CPD Leaders’ Forum, representing 12 MATs of varying stages and ages, have come together to identify and grapple with common “problems of practice” encountered when leading subjects across a trust.
This has culminated in a free practical guide designed to support trust leaders and practitioners in navigating the process of implementing subject networks at scale.
Shaped by lived experience and sector-wide expertise, the guide offers actionable insights and frameworks to avoid common pitfalls and build sustainable, impactful networks for subject-level development. But what does that look like?
Making better decisions
One of the key takeaways has been that it really matters how leaders approach decision making.
Several meta-analyses have revealed that subject and specialist networks are a means to enrich educational culture and eradicate silo-working. However, these benefits are only realised when decision making is both strategic and inclusive, balancing the unique DNA of each school with the broader aims of the trust.
To support making measured, informed decisions, we advocate for the use of six contextual lenses to help leaders understand starting points:
- Purpose and rationale: ask yourself what the true need for any initiative is. How does it align with the trust’s vision and national policy drivers?
- Culture and values: what beliefs and behaviours are likely to support or hinder this work? Is the culture primed for evolution?
- Stakeholder engagement and collaboration: who needs to be involved, and how will we build trust and psychological safety?
- Equity and inclusion: how will this work contribute to greater equity? Are there unintended consequences to the work?
- Capacity and capability: what resources, expertise and governance structures are required for sustainability?
- Sustainability and impact: what does success really look like, and how will we measure it over time? Will what we have built have the rigour to stand the tests of time?
These lenses, drawn from research and sector experience, are not prescriptive checklists but guiding perspectives that encourage reflection, dialogue and adaptation.
Ultimately, it’s important to see all change through the unique contextual lens of the organisation. Simply transplanting strategies from one setting to another (the dreaded “drag and drop”) without careful consideration is rarely effective and can even be damaging.
And this is not the only common pitfall to avoid.
Avoiding common pitfalls
Our work with the Trust-wide CPD Leaders’ Forum has brought to light several recurring challenges in the implementation of subject networks:
1. Lack of role clarity
Ambiguity around responsibilities can lead to duplication and confusion. Clear job descriptions and regular opportunities to review responsibilities are essential.
2. Logistical challenges
Inequitable access, irregular attendance and competing priorities can undermine continuity. To avoid this, leaders need to think carefully about resourcing and the systems they put in place.
3. Role positioning and accountability
Tensions between central teams and individual academies can arise without clear governance and reporting lines.
4. Impact measurement
Over-reliance on anecdotes or poor proxies for impact can obscure true effectiveness. It’s vital to agree on key performance indicators and establish robust evaluation tools.
Trusts will encounter these pitfalls regardless of what shape their subject network takes, and it is important to recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all operating model.
Our research and case studies illustrate that various approaches can be successful: from trust-wide specialists with strategic oversight, to voluntary network leads who foster collegiality on a shoestring. Each model brings strengths and challenges, and their success depends on alignment with local context, clarity of purpose and the quality of ongoing review.
For example, a trust-wide specialist role may drive high-impact, structured development but risks over-reliance on key individuals. Voluntary leads can boost engagement but may struggle with consistency and sustainability. Full-time subject leads offer strong alignment but require significant resources.
The key is to view these models through the six contextual lenses, adapting and iterating as needed.
Measuring what matters
It’s also important for leaders to consider how to measure the impact of professional development. This has always been a challenge.
Researchers suggest that it is more helpful to ask, “What role did the network play in supporting this change?” than to seek evidence of direct causation. Outputs like attendance or satisfaction rarely capture the deeper, long-term goals of professional learning. Combining surveys, observations, pupil and teacher voices, and data on progress and effectively triangulating evidence provides a fuller picture.
Moreover, the benefits of professional learning are often lagged, with sustained changes in practice and pupil outcomes emerging over months or even years. Leaders must therefore be patient, persistent and willing to adapt their evaluation frameworks as the work evolves.
Final recommendations
Overall, we would offer the following recommendations to trust leaders who are looking to establish a strong trust-wide subject network:
- Define purpose and objectives: align networks with strategic goals and improvement plans.
- Engage stakeholders: involve executive teams, CPD leads, teachers and subject directors from the outset.
- Select an appropriate model: choose a structure that fits your trust’s size, culture and aims.
- Anticipate and overcome challenges: address role clarity, logistics, governance and impact measurement proactively.
- Resource equitably: allocate time, funding and support intelligently.
- Measure impact intelligently: use a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, and beware of the dangers of misattribution and self-reporting.
- Plan for sustainability: develop succession plans and distributed leadership to mitigate over-reliance on individuals and to ensure that plans are robust enough to withstand growth and further challenge.
- Iterate and review: treat implementation as an ongoing process, using feedback and evidence to refine practice.
Trust-wide networks can be a source of powerful learning. By embracing professional curiosity, generosity and humility, we can ensure that our networks serve not only our schools and trusts, but the greater good of the sector as a whole.
Tracy Goodyear is chair of the Trust-wide CPD Leaders’ Forum
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