Guidance

Registration requirements for providers of specified further education initial teacher education courses

Updated 21 January 2026

Applies to England

This is a draft document published at this stage in order to support Parliamentary consideration of the underpinning regulations.

1. Overview

This guidance is for providers of specified further education (FE) initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England who must register with the Department for Education (DfE).

Providers are in scope of this guidance if they intend to deliver at least one specified ITT course for FE. These courses are specified in a list published by the Secretary of State for Education under the provisions of the Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026. These regulations are currently being considered by Parliament.

Providers not intending to offer one or more specified course in the academic year 2026 to 2027 should not complete the registration process.

The full process and timescales for registration will be confirmed in due course.

2. Why we are asking for this information

The quality of teaching is the single most important education-based factor determining outcomes for learners and is vital to delivering the government’s Opportunity and Growth missions.

There are currently significant evidence gaps about the size, shape, geography and characteristics of the FE teacher training system, and the needs of its students. Requiring all providers of ITT(FE) courses to register with DfE and submit data will help to address these gaps. It will also allow government to assess how well the system meets sector need.

Most ITT(FE) providers already submit information about their courses, partnership arrangements and trainees to bodies such as:

• the Higher Education Statistics Agency
• the Student Loans Company
• Ofsted
• Ofqual
• DfE

However, none of these current data collections are designed specifically for the ITT(FE) system. Collecting information in a single, consistent format will give an accurate picture of the whole ITT(FE) system in England and allow us to begin to address evidence gaps.

We will use the first year of ITT(FE) data registration and provider data collection to test whether these light-touch processes provide government with the information it needs.

The Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026 allow the Secretary of State to publish a list of providers who register with DfE via this process. A list of registered providers will be published on GOV.UK. The names and email addresses of the individuals completing the registration will not be published.

3. Registration

This section explains:

• when to register your institution
• who should complete the registration

3.1 Who should register?

The type of course and the mode of delivery determine who should register with DfE. Based on how their ITT(FE) provision is organised, colleges that are part of a larger group can decide whether to register individually or as a group under the main UK provider reference number (UKPRN).

Higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) with degree-awarding powers delivering courses directly to their students, or through a franchise agreement to students in franchised partners, are required to register.

Under a franchise arrangement, the course is designed and owned by the awarding partner (franchisor) who owns the student’s contract. The teaching partner (franchisee) delivers the course in adherence to the prescribed programme. The franchisor is responsible for completing the registration process and should enter relevant information regarding franchisees where requested.

For HEI courses delivered through a validation arrangement, the validated partner institution (and not the awarding partner) is responsible for completing registration. Under a validation arrangement, the teaching partner designs the curriculum, subject to approval by the awarding partner.

The terms ‘franchising’ and ‘validation’ are applied as set out in:

• the QAA UK’s quality code
• the Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s good practice framework
• the Office for Students regulatory framework
• Ofsted’s ITE inspection framework

Ofqual-regulated qualifications

For specified courses that lead to a qualification owned by an Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation (AO), we require the AO-accredited centre to complete the registration process for each specified course offered. The AO itself does not need to complete any registration process.

Learning and Skills Teacher apprenticeship

For the Learning and Skills Teacher (LST) apprenticeship, we require the provider to register (as opposed to the employer, where these are different).

3.2 When to register

We expect that registration for academic year 2026 to 2027 will open on 1 May 2026 and close on 30 June 2026.

This guidance will be updated annually to confirm when registration will open for future academic years.

A further opportunity to register may be offered later in the academic year for providers who miss the initial registration process, or who change their proposed course offer at a later stage. More information will be provided at the relevant time.

3.3 Who should complete registration

It is up to the institution to decide who submits the required information. Each institution should have a named academic authority and a working-level point of contact. Details of these will form part of the return to the department.

4. Required information when registering

When registering for the first time you will be asked to provide the following information:

• name and UKPRN of your institution
• details of the specified ITT(FE) courses you intend to deliver in the academic year 2026 to 2027
• details of any validating and/or franchising agreements in place, such as the UKPRN of the validating or franchising partner institution

4.1 Unique identifier

This is the UKPRN allocated to your institution after successful registration to the UK Register of Learning Providers.

This is an 8-digit number that always starts with a 1.

If you do not know your UKPRN or need to register to be allocated one, please refer to the UK Register of Learning Providers .

4.2 Name of provider

This is the full legal name of your institution and must be linked to the UKPRN.

4.3 Name of academic authority

This is the full name of the nominated academic authority for your institution. The named academic authority should be a senior manager, typically at director or board level.

As set out in The Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026, the academic authority must have regard to any guidance on the delivery of ITT and curriculum content published by the Secretary of State.

4.4 Email address of named academic authority

This is the full business email address for the named academic authority.

4.5 Position of named academic authority

This is the full job title of the named academic authority.

4.6 Name of point of contact

This is the full name of the nominated point of contact for your institution.

The named contact can be at any level of seniority and will be the first point of contact for any queries relating to ITE reform registration.

If appropriate, the named point of contact and the academic authority may be the same person. Often it will be appropriate for the person completing this registration process to be the named point of contact.

4.7 Email address of named point of contact

This is the full business email address for the named point of contact and should have the same email domain as that of the academic authority.

4.8 Position of named point of contact

This is the full job title of the named point of contact.

4.9 Level of the specified course or courses you are intending to offer

How you answer this question determines how much more information you need to provide.

You are only required to indicate if you intend to offer one or more specified ITT(FE) courses included on the list published by the Secretary of State.

4.10 Do you intend to offer the level 5 diploma in teaching?

• if yes, you will need to provide the Ofqual qualification number for each course being offered (if more than one)
• if no, please continue to the next question (question 4.11)

4.11 Do you intend to offer the level 5 certificate in education?

Course titles may vary by institution. Answer yes to this question if you intend to offer any level 5 HE ITT(FE) course that allows the trainee to achieve the LST occupational standard.

• if yes, continue to the next question (question 4.12)
• if no, you will be skipped to question 4.16

4.12 Do you have degree-awarding powers and are you intending to use those powers to certify outcomes for this course?

• if yes, you will be skipped to question 4.14
• if no, you will continue to the next question (4.13)

4.13 Please provide the UKPRN for your validating partner institutions

If you do not have degree-awarding powers, please provide the UKPRN of the HE institution that validates your course.

4.14 Do you franchise this course to other institutions?

Only answer this question if you have degree-awarding powers.

• if yes, you will continue to the next question (4.15)
• if no, you will be skipped to question 4.16

4.15 Please provide the UKPRN for your franchising partner institutions

Provide the UKPRN of the institutions that you franchise your courses to.

4.16 Do you intend to offer the level 5 LST apprenticeship?

• Yes
• No

4.17 Do you intend to offer courses at level 6?

Level 6 courses typically use titles such as the professional graduate certificate in education (PgCE) or the professional graduate diploma in education (PgDE).

Course titles may vary by institution. Answer yes to this question if you intend to offer any level 6 HEI ITT(FE) course that allows the trainee to achieve the LST occupational standard.

• if yes, you will continue to the next question (question 4.18)
• if no, you will be skipped to question 4.22

4.18 Do you have degree-awarding powers and are you intending to use those powers to certify the outcomes for this course?

• if yes, you will be skipped to question 4.20
• if no, you will continue to the next question (question 4.19)

4.19 Please provide the UKPRN for your validating partner institutions

If you do not have degree-awarding powers, please provide the UKPRN of the HEI institution that validates your course.

4.20 Do you franchise this course to other institutions?

Only answer this question if you have degree-awarding powers.

• if yes, you will continue to the next question (question 4.21)
• if no, you will be skipped to question 4.22

4.21 Please provide the UKPRN for your franchising partner institutions

Provide the UKPRN of the institutions that you franchise your courses to.

4.22 Do you intend to offer courses at level 7?

Level 7 courses typically use titles such as the post graduate certificate in education (PGCE) or the post graduate diploma in education (PGDE).

Course titles may vary by institution. Answer yes to this question if you intend to offer any level 7 HE ITT(FE) course that allows the trainee to achieve the LST occupational standard.

• if yes, then continue to the next question (question 4.23)
• if no, you will have completed the registration process and will be asked to check your responses before submitting

4.23 Do you have degree-awarding powers and are you intending to use those powers to certify the outcomes for this course?

• if yes, you will continue to question 4.26
• if no, you will continue to the next question (question 4.24)

4.24 Please provide the UKPRN for you validating partner institutions

If you do not have degree-awarding powers, please provide the UKPRN of the HEI institution that validates your course.

4.25 Do you franchise this course to other institutions?

Only answer this question if you have degree-awarding powers.

• if yes, you will continue to question 4.26
• if no, you will have completed he registration process and will be asked to check your responses before submitting

4.26 Please provide the UKPRN for your franchising partner institutions

Provide the UKPRN of the institutions that you franchise your courses to

Once you have completed the registration process, you will be asked to check your responses before submitting.

5. Authentication of provider registrations

Providers may be required to authenticate their responses via email in academic year 2026 to 2027.