To me Clara in S8 had school life, time away from school with Danny life and Doctor life, with various clashes between the 3!
This year it seem just to be school life and Doctor life, but apart from the romance/Danny issue no longer being there, we also haven't seen the Doctor arriving at random times to drag her away on an adventure either like he did last year. At the end of TWWL we see the Doctor with his guitar waiting for Clara to finish work.

He's becoming as well trained as 11 was in S7

Peter describes Clara’s ending as “confident, robust, and full of a attack” in DWM