Teacher resource

Implementing CBC: the honest problems, without a revolution paragraph

First published 1 February 2024 analysis · Published February 1, 2024

Competency-based teaching connects the intended learning with an activity, classroom evidence and feedback. The practical questions are how to prepare for the class you have, notice the learner’s approach and make time for the next teaching step.

Practical teaching guide, updated September 2026. Use the examples to discuss lesson preparation, classroom observations and follow-up with your teaching team.

Two teachers talking in a staffroom, not smiling for a camera.

Practical challenges in the teaching week

Mindset: a teacher trained to cover content is asked to facilitate a competency. Resources: a rural classroom of fifty with one worn tablet is not a design workshop. Assessment load: continuous evidence without a page becomes a Sunday pile. Parents: many still wait for a single exam to decide the next school. Pre-service and retooling that skip the actual week send people into that week unprepared.

What is not a slogan

Prepare a scheme that can guide Monday’s lesson, record observations while the work is fresh and share a useful picture with families. Mentorship and professional learning help teachers rehearse and review these routines together.

Ledgers, kept apart

Discuss planning, devices, connectivity and support with the teaching team. Choose a familiar class activity, practise the record together and agree how the team will review the first cycle.