Continuing Professional Development

The partnership between The University of York and the Cam Academy Trust strives to bring together research and practice to improve language curriculum design and pedagogy, leading to a higher take up and greater success at GCSE.

Practitioner-led CPD with firm foundations in a compelling evidence base.

Working with a network of language education researchers and expert teachers and teacher trainers, we deliver a substantial programme of research-informed professional development for all those involved in Modern Foreign Language education.

Due to the nature of these interactive courses please note that all sessions will not be recorded.

CPD Courses

Our CPD courses take an in-depth look at MFL curriculum design and pedagogy.

New for Autumn 2025/Winter 2026* Rachel Hawkes will deliver four CPD sessions

LDP director, Rachel, is a renowned and influential speaker, a past President of the Association for Language Learning (ALL), and a former Head of Modern Languages, AST and SLE. Co-author of several textbooks, Rachel holds both an MEd and a PhD from Cambridge University, focusing on teacher and learner interaction in the secondary languages classroom. Rachel recently led a team of resource developers in the creation of newly published KS2-KS4 resources for Oak National Academy, including fully-resourced curricula for the new French, German and Spanish GCSEs.

Coming up:

Success in the new GCSE part 1: speaking and writing

Effective strategies for teaching phonics, vocabulary, and grammar that support student progress and build confidence in both spoken and written communication.

Success in the new GCSE part 2: listening and reading

Effective strategies for teaching phonics, vocabulary, and grammar that support student progress and build confidence in both the listening and reading exams.

MFL Self Study - Curriculum Design and Pedagogy (6 modules)

This asynchronous version of our LDP CPD course has been developed for participants who wish to work flexibly through the modules at a personalised pace.