Professional Development in the United Kingdom is in a state of flux that reflects deeper tectonic movements in the structuring and organization of education. Within the three polities of mainland Britain: Wales, Scotland and England there are a set of recurring themes and imperatives that provide a rich field for educational research. The round table will consider three position papers from leading figures in the three countries, Cliff Jones, chair of England's University Council for Educating Teachers [UCET] Continuing Professional Development Committee, Jim O'Brien who was a member of the consultation team that led to the development of the Chartered Teacher Scheme in Scotland and Ken Jones who is the leading HE figure in CPD in Wales. Ken has been closely and fully involved in the development and implementation of CPD in Wales. The three lead speakers will have the support of members of the IPDA committee who are actively involved in research into teachers' professional development. Alex Alexandrou, chair of IPDA, will chair the round table, Dr Jon Nichol will be the discussant.The research paradigms to be considered in the round table need to be set against the politically set agendas for each country, linked to the crucial issues of funding and support.In England the government has thrown down a challenge to the HE community: it has to make sure that it relates closely to the needs of individual schools and colleges and networks that they develop or it will be marginalised. The research agenda has to take into account the needs of practitioners and the cultural ambience that individual schools and their communities generate. The form and nature that this research should take has been the subject of an often heated debated between the practitioner research community in the tradition of Stenhouse that is constructivist in nature via action and case study research and those that pursue a more positivist approach in the social sciences tradition. The focus of the English government is on applied research in schools that will draw upon and enrich networks of teachers and their school. The nature of that research, and the role that HE can play, is contested, as witnessed the demise of the Best Practice Research Scholarship scheme and the intense debate over the criteria for the current round of funding of government funded accredited professional development. The Welsh position is less contested and is at the consultation stage, with clear guidelines for professional development beginning to emerge. The General Teaching Council has announced a commitment to the continuing professional development of teachers that reflects a new objective 'developing a culture of professional development amongst teachers'. Central is the concept of in-school professional development that is an integral element of professional expectations, performance indicators and career paths. As such, CPD is likely to be linked to a set of coherent and progressive professional milestones. But, while the framework is clear, the role of teacher-as-researcher and research-led improvement of learning and teaching is less clear and the issue of recording and accrediting teachers' CPD is the focus of the second stage of national consultation currently underway. In Scotland the chartered teacher programme is a professional development initiative designed to recognise and reward the professional development of experienced teachers. As such, it is structured and highly coherent, dovetailing HEI, Local Education Authorities and practitioners. Completion of the programme's stages has major implications for professional career paths, including pecuniary benefits and higher status. The chartered Teacher programme is delivered via partnerships between HEIS and Local Education Authorities that HEIs validate. The chartered teacher programme is firmly grounded in practice. As such, it sits at the interface between scholarship, theory and research, mediated through the cooperative delivery of the programme by HE lecturers, the LEAs and highly experienced teachers. The chartered teacher programme is rapidly developing and evolving. As such, it is an extremely rich research site.