Trainee teachers will benefit from high-quality mentoring and increased time on school placements, through government reforms to drive up teacher training standards.
The government is today (1 December) confirming reforms to initial teacher training (ITT) courses, following consultation feedback from the sector, in order to drive up standards and ensure every child and young person can be taught by a brilliant teacher.
The reforms are backed by £35.7 million, with £25 million allocated to ensure trainees can receive high-quality mentoring support from experienced teachers and other experts - a key requirement of the new course standards.
The measures also require training providers to ensure that all courses have an evidence-based curriculum, are subject to quality assurance checks, and include at least four weeks of intensive training to strengthen the link between evidence-based theory and practice.
To ensure that every pupil receives a great education wherever they live, all training providers will go through a rigorous accreditation process against the new quality standards, ready to start delivering new ITT courses from September 2024.
Schools Minister Robin Walker said:
We want this country to be the best place to become a brilliant teacher, and that starts with high-quality initial teacher training.
It is vital that every trainee gets the support they need to help students achieve their potential and level up opportunity across the country - especially as we help them catch-up after the impact of the pandemic.
These reforms, developed with the sector, are the next step in our ambition to create a golden thread of evidence-based training, support and professional development, which will run through each phase of a teacher's career.
The plans reflect feedback from the sector following a seven-week consultation launched in July, based on recommendations from a review of the ITT market led by Ian Bauckham, chair of the Expert Advisory Group.
The changes to drive up standards for initial teacher training include:
- New intensive training and practice;
- New lead mentors for trainees
- Rigorous quality assurance arrangements to ensure a high-quality experience for every trainee;
- Accrediting all ITT providers based on the new Quality Requirements;
- Utilising Teaching School Hubs to support training providers, especially locally and in disadvantaged communities.
The reforms to ITT follow a wide range of measures already taken by the government to create world-leading training and support for teachers at every stage of their career.
These include the launch of the Early Career Framework reforms in September, which provide all new teachers with a funded entitlement to a structured 2-year package of high-quality professional development at the start of their careers, as well as the launch of a reformed suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and leaders in autumn.
Ian Bauckham, CEO of Tenax Schools trust and Chair of the ITT Market Review Expert Advisory Group, said:
Teachers are at the heart of our schools and education system. It is teachers who make the difference to the life chances of their students, that is why the training of teachers should be our highest priority.
Taken together these reforms are a once in a generation opportunity to revolutionise teacher training. Great professional training, based on the best experience and evidence, and supported by great mentors, has the power to change lives, not just of future teachers, but of the students they will teach for decades to come.
Richard Gill, CEO of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, Chair of the Teaching Schools Council and Member of the ITT Market Review Expert Advisory Group, said:
I am delighted the department is investing in this ambitious vision for initial teacher training. I believe these reforms will equip future teachers with an even greater level of skill and expertise to enable them to shape the life chances of children and young people in our schools.
It is clear that everyone in the sector shares the goal of delivering teacher training of the highest quality, and I am excited to see the positive impact these reforms will have on the next generation of teachers.
Professor Sam Twiselton, Director of Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University and Member of the ITT Market Review Expert Advisory Group, said:
I am delighted that there will be more time to plan the implementation of these ambitious reforms to ITT and that unprecedented funding will be available to support them. It is really good to see that DfE has listened to the many views of the sector and has made the new Quality Requirements more flexible and nuanced and therefore able to reflect and adapt to existing good practice. It is really good to see that mentoring remains at the heart of these reforms.
The next opportunity to be embraced is to ensure that both ITE and school sectors are able to work with DfE to make the most of the extra time to prepare for first teaching in 2024. This means working together to improve the system in a spirit of collaboration.
