Professional development lies at the heart of any thriving, forward-thinking profession. In teaching, however, despite the government’s recent drive to ‘modernise’ the profession, it can still be a bit hit and miss. What are the opportunities for ambitious and successful teachers of history to widen their horizons and engage in professional debates with the history teaching community beyond their individual schools? One good way is to write articles for Teaching History, of course! Other ways include mentoring trainee teachers, working for exam boards, doing a part-time Masters degree in Education, textbook writing or running workshops for other history teachers in your area. The Advanced Skills Teacher scheme provides a further possible route. Conceived as a way for excellent practitioners to share good practice with others, it enables teachers to remain in the classroom for the bulk of their time, but to engage in additional ‘outreach’ activities. The scheme has not taken off in quite the way it was intended, partly because it remains shrouded in a degree of mystery. Pam Raven, a history AST, sets out to dispel the mystery and put the record straight.