Although the idea has been around for a long time, the latest impetus for the idea of a College of Teaching was provided in May 2012 by the cross-party Education Committee. Since then there have been a number of publications and articles that provide perspectives on the idea. A selection of these are listed in the Further Reading.

In response to a unanimous request from over 30 members of the education community, in 2012 the PTI led a Committee of Teachers and a Commission of senior individuals to explore the idea of a new member-driven College of Teaching. In June 2013 these groups authored a Discussion Document and associated Teacher and Headteacher surveys that set out a blueprint for a new, member-driven College of Teaching. These were designed to elicit a meaningful response from teachers, school leaders and the education community to the idea.

After extensive consultation, which included the views of over 1,200 teachers, headteachers and education stakeholders as well as oral evidence gathered from over 40 people and organisations, the Blueprint was published in February 2014.

Thanks to generous philanthropic support, work on a robust business model and implementation plan began in June 2014. In October, the PTI, the Teacher Development Trust, SSAT and the existing College of Teachers joined forces to further promote the creation of a new College of Teaching. Working under the banner "Claim Your College", a new website and Twitter feed were formed: www.claimyourcollege.org and @CollofTeaching.

On 9 December 2014, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Schools expressed their support for a new independent College, and a consultation was launched asking for expressions of interest in how such a body would be set up. The Claim Your College Response  was published on 2 February 2015. 

As outlined in the proposal, a new charity has been formed, and the Founding Directors were recruited over the summer of 2015. Their names and quotations can be found by clicking here. The first meeting of the Founding Trustees was held on 3 October 2015.