The Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) initiative had two main aims: to reward excellent teaching practice, and to further invest in that practice so that CETLs funding delivered substantial benefits to students, teachers and institutions. The Centre for the Study of Education and Training (CSET, now the Centre for Higher Education Research and Evaluation) provided evaluation research support for a group of CETLs and supported general CETL development through the provision of evaluation tools and appraisal. CSET also evaluated the national stragegy for CETLs and provided evaluation resources for the self evaluation dimesnion of CETL development.