Statutory guidance

Initial teacher training (ITT): criteria and supporting advice

Updated 1 September 2022

Applies to England

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Overview

This document contains mandatory guidance and accompanying advice from the Department for Education (DfE). This means that accredited initial teacher training (ITT) providers must have regard to the mandatory guidance when carrying out their duties relating to ITT.

Accredited ITT providers must ensure they meet these criteria to remain compliant. ITT providers who do not comply with these criteria may be subject to withdrawal of accreditation.

This document applies to accredited providers delivering ITT until 31 August 2024. After this date new published ITT criteria and quality requirements will be in place.

Withdrawal of accreditation criteria

This section sets out the circumstances that may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation, and the requirements of ITT providers during this process. DfE will consider withdrawal of the accreditation of a provider where:

  • the provider demonstrates impropriety or inadequate controls in its financial management, or does not comply with relevant financial reporting or governance requirements
  • the provider fails to comply with DfE data and reporting requirements
  • the provider fails to adhere to any DfE guidance relating to ITT
  • the provider fails to regulate their volume of trainees in accordance with the current DfE allocation methodology
  • QTS provision is repeatedly of ‘requires improvement’ or lower quality
  • provision is non-compliant with one or more of the specified ITT criteria
  • the provider ceases to offer provision

Fee charging in 2022 to 2023 academic year for full-time fee-funded courses

The maximum tuition fee that providers registering in the approved (fee cap) section of the Office for Students’ (OfS) register can charge students for the 2022 to 2023 academic year is determined by the Higher Education (Fee Limits and Fee Limit Condition) (England) Regulations 2018, in powers conferred by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

This act also sets out the requirements for establishing OfS access and participation plans for 2022 to 2023. Approved (fee cap) providers with a Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) award for 2022 to 2023 may charge up to £6,165 for a full-time course if they do not have an OfS access and participation plan in place, or up to £9,250 if they have an OfS access and participation plan in place.

Approved (fee cap) providers without a TEF award for 2022 to 2023 may charge up to £6,000 for a full-time course if they do not have an OfS access and participation plan in place, or up to £9,000 if they have an OfS access and participation plan in place.

Providers registering in the approved section of the OfS register (approved providers) are not subject to maximum fees and are not required to submit an access and participation plan to OfS.

School centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers that have not registered with the OfS are not subject to the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and are able to set their own tuition fees without reference to OfS. However, as with higher education institutes, DfE requires that SCITT providers must not charge eligible trainees over £9,250 for full-time programmes of ITT in 2023 to 2024. This means that SCITTs can set and publish their own fees for international trainees for the full-time programmes starting in 2023 to 2024.

Any SCITT that registers with the OfS should inform the market regulation team at itt.accreditation@education.gov.uk.

Student support in 2022 to 2023 academic year for full-time courses

The level of fee loan support available to trainees in 2022 to 2023 will, in most cases, be determined by which part of the OfS register the provider has applied to register in.

Students taking designated courses at approved (fee cap) providers in 2022 to 2023 will qualify for fee loans to meet the full cost of their course subject, up to a maximum full-time fee loan limit of £9,250 for eligible trainees.

The same full-time fee loan will apply to any SCITT providers registered with OfS. SCITT providers not registered with OfS will also be subject to a maximum fee loan limit of £9,250.

Trainees taking full-time ITT courses with approved providers will only be able to access loans of up to £6,000 towards their fees, or up to £6,165 where approved providers have a current TEF award.

Fee charging in 2022 to 2023 academic year for part-time fee-funded courses

The maximum tuition fee that providers registering in the approved (fee cap) section of the Office for Students’ (OfS) register can charge students for the 2022 to 2023 academic year is determined by the Higher Education (Fee Limits and Fee Limit Condition) (England) Regulations 2018, in powers conferred by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

This act also sets out the requirements for establishing OfS access and participation plans for 2022 to 2023.

Approved (fee cap) providers with a Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) award for 2022 to 2023 may charge up to £4,625 for a part-time course if they do not have an OfS access and participation plan in place, or up to £6,935 if they have an OfS access and participation plan in place.

Approved (fee cap) providers without a TEF award for 2022 to 2023 may charge up to £4,500 for a part-time course if they do not have an OfS access and participation plan in place, or up to £6,750 if they have an OfS access and participation plan in place.

Providers registering in the approved section of the OfS register (approved providers) are not subject to maximum fees and are not required to submit an access and participation plan to OfS.

School centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers that have not registered with OfS are not subject to the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and are able to set their own tuition fees without reference to OfS. However, DfE requires that SCITT providers must not charge eligible trainees over £6,935 for part-time programmes of ITT in 2022 to 2023. This means that SCITTs can set and publish their own fees for international trainees for the part-time programmes starting in 2023 to 2024.

Any SCITT that registers with the OfS should inform the market regulation team at itt.accreditation@education.gov.uk.

Student support in 2022 to 2023 academic year for part-time courses

The level of fee loan support available to trainees in 2022 to 2023 will, in most cases, be determined by which part of the OfS register the provider has applied to register in.

Students taking designated part-time courses at approved (fee cap) providers in 2022 to 2023 will qualify for fee loans to meet the full cost of their course subject to a maximum part-time fee loan limit of £6,935.

The same part-time fee loan will apply to any SCITT providers registered as approved (fee cap) providers with OfS. SCITT providers not registered with OfS will also be subject to a maximum fee loan limit of £6,935.

Trainees taking part-time ITT courses with approved providers will only be able to access loans of up to £4,500 towards their fees, or up to £4,625 where approved providers have a current TEF award.

Entry criteria

This section describes the entry criteria.

C1.1 GCSE standard equivalent

All accredited ITT providers must ensure:

  • that all entrants have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade 4 (see note 2) in the GCSE examinations in English and mathematics, and
  • that all who intend to train to teach pupils aged 3 to 11 additionally have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade 4 in the GCSE examination in a science subject

The aim of this criterion is to ensure that entrants to ITT have demonstrated their achievement of a minimum standard of educational attainment. Primary trainees need also to demonstrate an acceptable level of subject knowledge in the core subjects of the national curriculum.

It is the standard, not the certificate, that matters. Applicants who are otherwise suitable but have not successfully achieved a GCSE grade 4 may be given an opportunity to show that they can meet the required standard either by taking an equivalence test or by offering other evidence of attainment, which should demonstrate a similar level and breadth. Providers should consider making similar arrangements for candidates who cannot provide original certificates as evidence.

However, those applicants meeting the required standard by taking an equivalence test or by offering other evidence of attainment that intend to undertake the Post Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship (PGTA) will need functional skills qualifications or equivalent qualifications at level 2 in mathematics and English to meet the apprenticeship gateway entry criteria.

DfE does not provide a list of qualifications that can be considered equivalent to the GCSE examinations in English, mathematics and science. When ITT partnerships look for evidence that a qualification is of a standard equivalent to GCSE grade 4, they should look at the content not only in terms of its level, but also in terms of its breadth.

Specific qualifications

Qualifications in key and functional skills at level 2 are not equivalent to GCSEs in terms of content. ITT partnerships should look for additional evidence of breadth of knowledge and understanding in applicants who have key and functional skills certificates but do not have GCSEs at grade 4 or above in English and mathematics.

Providers should look for further evidence of a breadth of achievement in English where applicants have achieved a GCSE grade 4 or above in English literature only.

Further information

The European Network of Information Centres in the European region (ENIC) provides advice on the equivalence of overseas qualifications.

C1.2 Degree criteria

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that, in the case of graduate programmes of ITT, all entrants hold a first degree of a United Kingdom higher education institution or equivalent qualification (see note 3).

The aim of this criterion is to ensure the graduate status of teaching. All entrants must have attained a qualification that demonstrates the level of knowledge, understanding and transferable intellectual skills associated with graduate status.

The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003 requires all entrants to teaching in England to have a UK first degree or equivalent qualification. Any equivalent qualification must be one single qualification, not an aggregation of a number of separate qualifications. Those on undergraduate ITT programmes will, if successful, graduate and meet the standards for the award of QTS at the same time. Those entering graduate ITT programmes need to have attained a degree before they commence the programme.

ITT providers should view original certificates in order to validate an applicant’s degree status. However, they should exercise discretion for recent graduates where there is a delay in receiving the original certificate. In these cases, providers should obtain written confirmation from the relevant degree-awarding institution that the applicant has achieved graduate status. Providers should view the original certificate as soon as it is available.

In cases where an original certificate is no longer available, providers must gain assurance of graduate status and must keep an audit trail of the evidence obtained.

Degree subjects

Legislation does not specify that teachers must have a degree in a particular subject or discipline. It is the Teachers’ Standards that specify the subject knowledge required for the award of QTS. All trainee teachers must meet these by the time they complete their training.

There is no statutory requirement for primary trainee teachers to have a degree in a national curriculum subject, or for secondary trainee teachers to have a degree in a specified subject, as long as they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards, including those that relate to subject and curriculum knowledge, by the end of their training.

Information on degree-level qualifications

Providers will need to make sure that those responsible for decisions on entry understand, or have access to, advice on the range of qualifications generally regarded as equivalent to a first (bachelor’s) degree in the UK, including:

  • overseas qualifications
  • professional or vocational qualifications
  • qualifications no longer available but held by mature applicants

For example, the MEng is a four-year first degree, the BPhil is usually a research degree, and some taught master’s degrees may be open to people without a first degree.

It is for the provider to decide whether a candidate’s qualification meets this criterion, and whether a particular master’s degree demonstrates the breadth and type of academic engagement that would be expected from first degree study. Partnerships that do not include degree-awarding bodies may wish to seek advice from those that are.

Further information

The European Network of Information Centres in the European region (ENIC) provides advice on the equivalence of overseas degrees.

The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies describes the higher education qualifications awarded by UK higher education institutions (HEIs) at 5 levels.

C1.3 Suitability

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that all entrants, as part of the provider’s selection procedures, have taken part in a rigorous selection process designed to assess their suitability to train to teach.

Providers must ensure that, before anyone is admitted to an ITT programme, they have been deemed suitable to train to teach. This will help to protect children and young people from trainee teachers who might put them at risk of harm because their previous conduct shows they are unsuitable for teaching. ITT partnerships should conduct interviews, run background checks, and assess if an applicant has the potential to meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of their training programme.

Providers should consider a wide range of evidence to judge applicants’ suitability to train to teach, for example:

  • information from application forms
  • candidates’ personal statements
  • results of any entry tests or tasks
  • applicants’ portfolios
  • interviews

Prior experience in a school is not required. However, where candidates have been able to gain experience in schools, providers might find reports from those schools helpful. Lack of school experience should not be a reason for rejecting an otherwise suitable applicant.

Interviews

Providers should consider how information from interviews can help to identify and take account of trainees’ specific needs during training, including any exemptions from programme requirements on the basis of prior achievement. The interview process might include discussions of professional portfolios and discussions of prior achievement.

Equality

To comply with equality legislation, providers must ensure that interview procedures promote equality of opportunity and avoid discrimination.

The Equality Act 2010 and Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 require providers to ensure they are not discriminating against applicants with disabilities or special educational needs (SEN).

Applicants with disabilities are under no obligation to disclose their disabilities. Providers must ensure that their provision does not place applicants with declared disabilities at a disadvantage. Providers must also consider making anticipatory adjustments to promote positively equality of access for disabled applicants, including access to benefits, facilities and services. They should provide as many opportunities as possible for applicants to identify any special arrangements they may require, for example when inviting them for interview or making arrangements for any entrance tests.

Intellectual and academic capabilities

ITT providers should consider the full range of applicants’ knowledge, skills, academic background and prior experience to judge whether they have the capability to meet the Teachers’ Standards in the time planned for their training.

Prior to the award of QTS, providers must assure the trainees’ English and mathematics. Providers must assure that trainees demonstrate competence in the following areas.

  1. Speaking, listening and communicating are fundamental to a teacher’s role. Teachers should use standard English grammar, clear pronunciation and vocabulary relevant to the situation to convey instructions, questions, information, concepts and ideas with clarity. Teachers should read fluently and with good understanding.

  2. Writing by teachers will be seen by colleagues, pupils and parents and, as such, it is important that a teacher’s writing reflects the high standards of accuracy their professional role demands. They should write clearly, accurately, legibly and coherently using correct spelling and punctuation.

  3. Teachers should use data and graphs to interpret information, identify patterns and trends and draw appropriate conclusions. They need to interpret pupil data and understand statistics and graphs in the news, academic reports and relevant papers. Teachers should be able to complete mathematical calculations fluently with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages. They should be able to solve mathematical problems using a variety of methods and approaches including: estimating and rounding, sense checking answers, breaking down problems into simpler steps, and explaining and justifying answers using appropriate language.

Any work to address shortfalls in English and mathematics must be undertaken by the trainee teacher in addition to other aspects of their training. It is the trainee’s responsibility to secure Fundamental English and mathematics, whereas responsibility for assurance lies with the provider. Fundamental English and mathematics may be implemented, supported and assured in different ways by different providers.

Health and physical capacity to train to teach

Providers have a responsibility to ensure that trainees have the health and physical capacity to train to teach and will not put children and young people at risk of harm. The activities that a teacher must be able to perform are set out in the Education (Health Standards) (England) Regulations 2003. Providers are responsible for ensuring that only trainees who have the capacity to train to teach remain on the programme.

People with disabilities or chronic illnesses may have the capacity to train to teach, just as those without disabilities or medical conditions may be unsuitable to train to teach.

Successful applicants may be asked to complete a fitness questionnaire prior to commencing the programme. ITT providers should not ask all-encompassing health questions but should ensure they only ask targeted and relevant health-related questions which are necessary to ensure that a person is able to train to teach.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks

Providers should have regard to the Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. They should ensure all trainees have been subject to appropriate pre-selection checks. This will include obtaining and considering Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks and children’s barred list information.

Providers should confirm in writing to schools that a non-salaried trainee’s criminal record check, including a check of the children’s barred list, has been completed and that the individual has been judged by the provider to be suitable to work with children. Providers are not required to provide any information to schools in addition to this confirmation. Schools may wish to record this confirmation in their single central record, but they are not required to do so.

When determining an individual’s suitability to train to teach, providers and employers should check that a trainee has not previously been removed from a programme because they have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children, or if the previous provider would have removed the trainee had they not left.

Where a school or college allows an individual to start work in regulated activity before the DBS certificate is available, they should ensure the individual is appropriately supervised and that all other checks, including a separate barred list check, have been completed.

In the case of salaried routes, the responsibility lies with the employer to ensure that checks have been carried out. The employing school should inform the provider that a satisfactory check has been obtained.

Providers should establish clear safeguarding procedures and protocols that are agreed by all partners in the partnership. This should include a common understanding across the partnership of convictions, offences, cautions and warnings that would not pose a barrier to joining an ITT programme.

Schools should ensure that all trainee teachers, at the start of their training in each school, are provided with:

  • the child protection policy
  • the staff behaviour policy (sometimes called a code of conduct)
  • information about the role of the designated safeguarding lead
  • a copy of Keeping Children Safe in Education

Providers may wish to recommend to applicants that are checked early in the recruitment cycle that they register with the DBS update service.

If a provider removes a trainee from a programme because the trainee has harmed or poses a risk of harm to children, or if the provider would have removed the trainee had they not left, the provider should seek guidance from the DBS.

Any queries about DBS checks should be referred to the DBS at customerservices@dbs.gov.uk or on 03000 200 190.

Other background checks

Candidates who are unsuited to working with children may not have any previous convictions, and providers should be vigilant during the selection process. Providers or employing schools have a duty to ensure that trainees are properly managed and supervised and that, if they have concerns, information is referred to the police and the DBS.

Candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK must undergo the same checks as all other staff in schools and colleges. In addition, further checks should be carried out so that events that occurred outside the UK can be considered. The Home Office has published guidance on criminal record checks for overseas applicants and DfE has published Changes to checks for EU sanctions on EEA teachers and Recruit teachers from overseas.

ITT providers and employers must check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order issued by the Secretary of State.

Childcare disqualification

ITT providers should have regard to the Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006 statutory guidance and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006 when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Where trainees are salaried, it is the responsibility of the school to ensure they comply with the legislation. If a salaried trainee is, or becomes, disqualified from a childcare role, schools should inform the training provider of this. Where trainees are fee-funded, it is the responsibility of the training provider to ensure that the trainee is not disqualified from childcare or that the trainee has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted.

Further advice on the childcare disqualification arrangements can be obtained from the Department for Education at mailbox.disqualification@education.gov.uk or on 01325 340 409.

Further information

Statutory guidance:

C1.4 Professional skills tests

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that all entrants beginning ITT on or after 1 August 2013 until 31 March 2020 have passed the professional skills tests prior to entry (see note 4).

The professional skills tests are set in the context of the wider professional role of a teacher. Trainees entering ITT from 2013 until 31 March 2020 must have passed these tests before starting an ITT programme.

Candidates commencing ITT programmes on or after 1 April 2020 will not be required to pass the skills tests prior to entry.

Trainees who have passed the skills tests and a course leading to QTS do not need to re-take the skills tests if they later take a course leading to EYTS.

Trainees who have passed the skills tests and a course leading to EYTS do not need to re-take the skills tests if they later take a course leading to QTS.

Training criteria

C2.1 Programmes

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that the content, structure, delivery and assessment of programmes are designed to:

  • enable trainee teachers to meet all the standards for QTS across the age range of training, and
  • ensure that no trainee teacher is recommended for the award of QTS until they have met all of the standards for QTS.

At the outset, ITT providers should make clear to trainees, and to all those involved in the partnership, the scope and coverage of the programme, including subject and curriculum knowledge and the anticipated training outcomes.

Programme design underpins all the training criteria and should be flexible enough to meet the needs of every trainee. Providers should look particularly at the extent to which their provision and assessment practices are designed to ensure that trainees meet the Teachers’ Standards by the end of the course.

ITT providers should offer trainees specialist subject training to develop the necessary knowledge and understanding of their subjects and related pedagogy, which will enable them to teach their subjects, across the full age and ability range of training. Trainees that are training to teach a subject that is always or predominantly taught in only one age range (for example post-16) may need to demonstrate subject knowledge in a related subject if they do not have the opportunity to teach their subject across the full age range of training.

Schools, early years and further education settings have a crucial role to play in designing training that provides the range of experiences that trainees need. Therefore, ITT providers will need to work across a range of schools and settings to give trainees a breadth of experience.

Prior to the award of QTS, providers must assure the trainees’ English and mathematics. Providers must assure that trainees demonstrate competence in the areas set out in C1.3 Suitability.

Trainee assessment procedures should be rigorous and robust, supporting consistent and accurate judgements. Where schools take significant responsibility for judgements that lead to a recommendation for the award of QTS, such as during the delivery of School Direct programmes, the ratifying accredited provider should ensure that assessment moderation procedures are robust and all recommendations for the award are secure. The accredited provider remains accountable for all assessment judgements and recommendations and should ensure that this is understood across the partnership through the partnership agreement.

Providers of the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship route should ensure that end-point assessments comply with the arrangements specified for the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship programme. Further guidance is available on the register of apprenticeship training providers and the register of end-point assessment organisations.

Training may be delivered in schools or other settings (subject to C2.3) and is likely to include a combination of unobserved and observed teaching, taught sessions, seminars, workshops, tasks and assignments, and engagement with academic or professional research.

Providers must ensure their curricula encompass the full entitlement described in the ITT Core Content Framework (2019).

Providers should:

  • design curricula appropriate for the subject, phase and age range that the trainees will be teaching
  • ensure trainees have adequately covered the foundational knowledge and skills that are a prerequisite for the content defined in the ITT Core Content Framework
  • integrate additional analysis and critique of theory, research and expert practice as they deem appropriate
  • ensure trainees receive clear and consistent mentoring and support from mentors and other expert colleagues

C2.2 Age ranges

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that they prepare all trainee teachers to teach within one of the following age phases:

  • ages 3 to 11 (primary)
  • ages 7 to 14 (middle)
  • ages 11 to 19 (secondary)

Training must enable trainees to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to teach within the phase for which they are training. Typically training will take place across the following age ranges:

  • 3 to 7, 5 to 11, or 7 to 11 for primary training
  • 7 to 14 for middle training
  • 11 to 16, 11 to 18, or 14 to 19 for secondary training, depending on the subjects of training

No training programme should cover fewer than 4 consecutive school years.

Where providers are offering middle phase ITT programmes, they should record trainees on these programmes as ‘secondary’ for DfE data purposes. Programmes should enable trainees on middle phase programmes to demonstrate they have met the Teachers’ Standards across the relevant curriculum in the primary element of training, and in their specialist subject in the secondary element of training.

Providers should specify in their recruitment literature and programme design documentation the age range of training for each of their programmes. Trainees should be assessed as meeting the standards in the specified age range.

Providers should consider how the programme design, and trainees’ time, in at least 2 schools will ensure they are fully prepared to teach across the specified age range. Providers can take account of time spent working with pupils before training starts.

Providers must ensure that trainees have the opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of progression across, and before and after, the age range they are training to teach. This might include enhanced experiences in other age ranges.

C2.3 Training in schools

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that training programmes are designed to provide trainee teachers with sufficient time being trained in schools (see note 5), early years and/or further education settings to enable them to demonstrate that they have met all the standards for QTS. This means they would typically be structured to include at least the following periods of time to be spent in training in schools, early years or further education settings (see note 6):

  • a four-year undergraduate programme - 160 days (32 weeks)
  • a one, two or three-year undergraduate programme - 120 days (24 weeks)
  • a secondary graduate (non-employment-based) programme - 120 days (24 weeks)
  • a primary graduate (non-employment-based) programme - 120 days (24 weeks)
  • employment-based programme - as determined by the training programme

Time spent in schools, early years or further education settings should be part of a coherent training programme that enables trainees to meet the Teachers’ Standards.

Time spent training in settings other than schools, early years settings or further education colleges can form a valuable part of programmes, but cannot be counted towards meeting this criterion.

Applicants to ITT with teaching experience might not need to spend as much time in schools, or other settings, as long as they are given enough time to demonstrate that they have achieved all the Teachers’ Standards.

However, providers should be careful not to assume that time spent working in a school is in itself sufficient to exempt trainees from the requirement to teach in at least 2 schools. In these cases, trainees will need to demonstrate they have had an assessed experience of teaching children or young people, rather than working in a support role.

It is unlikely that any trainee, however experienced, would be able to demonstrate achievement of all the Teachers’ Standards, over a period of less than 6 consecutive weeks of training, in a school in which their teaching is regularly observed and assessed.

Training may take place in a special school or in a pupil referral unit (PRU), particularly where a provider chooses to offer an additional specialism in special educational needs. In these cases, providers should ensure that the overall training programme enables trainees to demonstrate all of the Teachers’ Standards across the full age and ability range of training.

ITT providers should satisfy themselves that partner schools have the capacity to undertake their responsibilities. Where a school has serious weakness or is in special measures, it may still be possible for providers to use the school, especially if the improvements to be made do not affect the subject or age range of the training. The partnership needs to be confident that the trainee will not be disadvantaged by the school experience and the situation should be kept under close review.

Legislation requires that practical teaching experience for the purposes of ITT should take place wholly or mainly in England, or in schools administered by the Directorate Children and Young People (DCYP). However, there may be circumstances where part of the training could take place outside England. For example, trainees specialising in modern foreign languages may benefit from time in schools abroad.

C2.4 Two schools

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that each trainee teacher has taught in at least 2 schools (see note 7).

Trainee teachers need a variety of experience in schools to enable them to meet all the Teachers’ Standards. They need to teach children and young people in their specified age range, from different backgrounds, as well as gaining experience of different approaches to teaching and to school organisation and management.

Trainees must have taught in 2 schools prior to the award of QTS. It is not sufficient for trainees only to have had experience of working in 2 schools. Providers may wish to consider whether a trainee, with prior assessed experience of teaching in a school, has gained enough relevant teaching experience to allow the provider confidently to count that previous teaching as one of the 2 schools specified.

Salaried trainees will often need to be released from their employing schools to spend time teaching in another school. Providers should ensure the other schools are carefully selected to extend the trainees’ knowledge, skills and understanding, and provide opportunities for them to demonstrate, through their teaching, how they meet the Teachers’ Standards.

Management and quality assurance criteria

C3.1 Management

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that their management structure ensures the effective operation of the training programme.

Providers must plan their training programme to ensure that they comply with the current ITT criteria and provide the opportunity for trainees to demonstrate they meet the Teachers’ Standards. Training should be of high quality and providers should seek continuing improvement.

Schools should play a significant, and often leading, role in the design and delivery of training provision. The management structure should demonstrate the central role that schools should play in all aspects of provision, from selection and recruitment, through delivery and training, to the assessment of trainees for the award of QTS.

Partnerships should ensure that the workload of trainee teachers is manageable. Guidance is available to support partnerships to address trainee teacher workload, using the teacher workload toolkits. Everyone across the partnership should be clear about their role in reducing trainee teacher workload.

Providers must contact DfE to seek approval for any proposed significant changes to their governance and/or operational structure. This includes, for example, the loss or removal of a partner organisation, or a change in the accounting officer. If a provider is in any doubt as to whether they should advise DfE of any changes, they should do.

Details of any proposed variations should be sent to itt.accreditation@education.gov.uk.

C3.2 Partnerships

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that partners establish a partnership agreement setting out the roles and responsibilities of each partner. Provision that is not school-led must assure the significant role of schools in recruiting, selecting, training and assessing trainee teachers.

The partnership agreement should be a clear, working document that can be used to guide and inform the contributions of each partner and help to support coherent arrangements across the various contexts in which the training takes place. The partnership agreement should be underpinned by other practices, such as well-understood procedures for communication between the partners and agreed arrangements for the co-ordination of the training.

School-led provision should draw upon the expertise of practitioners from the best schools across the partnership. In addition, trainees may be given the opportunity to gain practical experience of working successfully in schools and settings in challenging socio-economic circumstances and those judged to require improvement.

Where provision is not school-led, providers must assure the significant role of schools in the recruitment, selection, training and assessment of trainee teachers. The roles and responsibilities of all partners should be clearly defined in the partnership agreement.

The partnership agreement should also include details of the:

  • partnership’s quality assurance procedures
  • content and delivery of each of the ITT programmes
  • policies for equality of opportunity
  • organisation and management of the partnership
  • the role of each partner in addressing and managing trainee teacher workload
  • the role of all partners in protecting trainees’ mental health and well-being

The partnership agreement may make reference, for example, to the functions of groups and committees in managing the partnership and the ways in which resources are allocated among partners. It will set out the criteria for removing schools from the partnership, particularly where quality issues arise. The agreement, and any associated supplementary documentation, should be reviewed and revised by members of the partnership at regular intervals.

Roles and responsibilities

All trainers and trainee teachers need to be clear about who is responsible for elements of training and assessment, how provision is managed and how the elements fit together to ensure training addresses all the Teachers’ Standards.

Partnership agreements should specify the different roles within the partnership including, for example, programme and course leaders, mentors, tutors, training managers, and internal and external moderators. They should also set out how partners contribute towards:

  • selecting and interviewing applicants
  • moderating assessment judgements of trainees against the Teachers’ Standards
  • providing professional development opportunities for colleagues within the partnership
  • trainee access to resources
  • any course and/or programme committees
  • quality assurance including improvement planning and self-evaluation
  • the promotion of equality of opportunity
  • the safeguarding of children and young people

Providers of salaried routes must ensure that all schools or settings, where trainees have additional teaching experience, are of high quality, understand and agree to the partnership roles and responsibilities and have the capacity to provide the necessary training and support.

C3.3 Legislation

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that they comply with all current legislation relevant to ITT.

In order to be accredited a provider must satisfy the criteria specified by the Secretary of State. ITT partnerships must review and update their provision so that it continues to meet these criteria and associated legislation. Where there is evidence of an ITT provider’s non-compliance with current ITT criteria, DfE will consider withdrawal of accreditation.

Providers should make sure that partners are fully aware of their duties under all relevant legislation and have in place arrangements for ensuring these are met when selecting, recruiting, training and assessing trainees. This includes:

From 1 July 2015 specified authorities, including all schools, are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the CTSA 2015), to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. Bodies to which the duty applies must have regard to statutory guidance issued under section 29 of the CTSA 2015 (‘the Prevent duty guidance’).

The Prevent duty guidance states that schools and other institutions to which the duty applies should make sure that staff have training that gives them the knowledge and confidence to identify children at risk of being drawn into terrorism and to challenge extremist ideas, which can be used to legitimise terrorism and are shared by terrorist groups.

Further information

The following is a sample list of relevant legislation and guidance. This is not intended to be exhaustive and ITT partnerships will need to ensure they have identified and comply with all legislation relevant to ITT. The Equality Act 2010 is the governing legislation for all matters relating to all acts of discrimination. Also relevant are:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) provides further guidance on the Equality Act for schools and further and higher education institutions. The EHRC also has information on the Equality Act codes of practice that relate to equal pay, race, disability, sex and gender discrimination.

The work that is reserved to qualified teachers in maintained schools in accordance with section 133 of the Education Act 2002, subject to limited exceptions, is prescribed by the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012.

Other relevant documents include:

ITT providers should familiarise themselves with the Competition and Markets Authority’s consumer law advice. Any ITT provider that does not meet its obligations to students may be in breach of consumer protection law. Find out more about Higher education: consumer law advice for providers.

C3.4 Quality assurance

All accredited ITT providers must ensure that they monitor, evaluate and moderate all aspects of provision rigorously and demonstrate how these contribute to securing improvements in the quality of training and the assessment of trainees.

Trainees can only be recommended for the award of QTS if they meet all the Teachers’ Standards. Therefore, the assessment of trainees must be accurate and reliable in establishing, consistently over time, whether or not trainees meet the Teachers’ Standards.

In order to ensure accuracy and reliability providers should have clear and robust assessment and moderation arrangements in place, informed by appropriate criteria for the various aspects and stages of the training.

External moderators have an important role in ensuring consistency of standards across, as well as within, ITT partnerships. Providers should ensure that external moderators have relevant expertise and experience to enable them to carry out their roles competently. They should also ensure the views of external moderators are taken into account fully when reaching decisions about trainees’ achievement of the Teachers’ Standards.

Evaluation

ITT providers should clearly define the arrangements and responsibilities for monitoring and evaluating the quality of training across all the contexts in which it takes place, and identify ways in which it could be improved.

ITT providers may wish to collect and analyse a variety of data to inform their understanding of the effectiveness of their training. For example, they may collect and analyse data or other evidence about:

  • training sessions, in order to establish their fitness for purpose and to identify strengths and weaknesses across the different contributions to the programme
  • trainees’ evaluations of how their training needs have been met
  • tutors’ evaluations of the training programme and how it is administered
  • trainees’ perceptions of their training
  • former trainees, induction tutors and employing schools
  • internal and external moderation about the effectiveness and accuracy of the assessments of trainees against the Teachers’ Standards
  • external moderator feedback about the effectiveness of training provision in helping trainees to meet the Teachers’ Standards
  • the implementation of equality policies
  • DfE and Ofsted feedback

Internal moderation

Internal moderation provides a system of checks and balances within a partnership to ensure that trainees in different settings are assessed accurately and reliably. ITT providers should ensure that arrangements for internal moderation are in place and they work effectively. The roles and responsibilities of those carrying out such arrangements are likely to be contained in the partnership agreement (see C3.2).

Internal moderation procedures could include, for example:

  • the involvement of staff with relevant expertise from 2 or more partners when assessing trainees
  • detailed scrutiny by a moderating panel of a sample of trainees, including any judged by an assessor as on the pass/fail borderline, or likely to fail
  • joint observations of trainees’ teaching
  • discussions by relevant staff of all the evidence available, including trainees’ previous experience and achievement
  • arrangements for feeding back information to the partnership about the accuracy and consistency of assessment arrangements and about elements of good practice to support improvements

External moderation

ITT providers should appoint suitable external moderators. External moderators should have no direct involvement with the work of the partnership. They should be able to offer an external perspective on the attainment of other providers’ trainees being assessed for the award of QTS, which should help to verify the accuracy of the provider assessments. Providers should consider how to use external moderators to corroborate and standardise their assessments of trainees.

Providers may wish to consider, when appointing external moderators, whether they have appropriate subject, curriculum or age-phase expertise to enable them to provide specialist feedback.

The responsibilities of external moderators might include:

  • detailed scrutiny of a sample of trainees, including a representative cross-section of trainees together with all trainees that internal moderators regard as being on the pass/fail borderline, or possible failures
  • observation of the teaching of all trainees in a designated sample, such as those assessed as being borderline satisfactory to good, or borderline good to outstanding
  • discussion with internal assessors and/or moderators of all the evidence available on whether individual trainees have achieved the Teachers’ Standards and at what level
  • scrutiny of internal moderation arrangements, drawing on some of the evidence gained from activities above
  • producing a report that includes an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision observed, clearly linked to the Teachers’ Standards and ITT criteria, and including an evaluation of the accuracy of the assessments of trainees’ attainment against the Teachers’ Standards

In addition, providers should have procedures in place for monitoring and evaluating the management of their programmes including, for example, arrangements for the selection and de-selection of partner schools. They should use evidence exemplified above to inform the work of any committees that serve the partnership.

Providers should have systematic procedures in place in order to demonstrate that monitoring and evaluation have secured improvements in quality and outcomes for trainees. This may mean keeping comparative data and other evidence over a period of time.

Similarly, providers may wish to examine their procedures and practices for enhancing and improving the pedagogical knowledge of all trainees and the knowledge of relevant curriculum areas for primary trainees, and evaluate these against the success of trainees in meeting the Teachers’ Standards. The evidence will need to be sufficiently robust to enable providers to draw conclusions and act upon them.

All monitoring and evaluation processes and activities should focus on impact and outcomes - particularly in the context of the standards achieved by trainees. Reporting and documenting of these activities should be evaluative rather than descriptive. These activities and processes might feed into improvement plans. When monitoring and evaluating programmes, providers should compare their own provision with that of providers of similar and different size and type.

Employment-based criteria

C4.1 Employment

All accredited providers of employment-based ITT must additionally ensure that, for the period of training, all applicants must be employed as unqualified teachers (see note 8) at a school (see note 9), and (except applicants employed in academies or independent schools) must be paid in accordance with at least the minimum of the unqualified teacher pay range for the period of their training.

C4.2 Admissions

All accredited providers of employment-based ITT must additionally ensure that applicants are only admitted to employment-based programmes by either DfE or by an accredited provider (see note 10).

C4.3 Teaching

All accredited providers of employment-based ITT must additionally ensure that no applicant will be required to perform more than 90 per cent of the teaching duties normally required of a full-time qualified teacher.

Relevant legislation

This advice refers to:

Notes

Note 1: As determined by Ofsted inspection grade criteria (return to accreditation)

Note 2: For the equivalent of grades awarded under the new GCSE grading structure, refer to Your qualification, our regulation: GCSE, AS and A level reforms (return to GCSE standard equivalent)

Note 3: A first degree comprises 300 HE credit points of which 60 must be at level 6 of the QCF. Applicants with a foundation degree will need to supplement this qualification with at least 60 credits at level 6 (HE level 3) in order to attain an equivalent single qualification (return to degree criteria)

Note 4: All trainee teachers that began ITT before 1 August 2013 must have passed the professional skills tests before they can be recommended for the award of QTS (return to professional skills tests)

Note 5: Section 4 of the Education Act 1996 defines a school as ‘an educational institution which is outside the further education sector and the higher education sector and is an institution for providing (a) primary education, (b) secondary education or (c) both primary and secondary education’ (return to training in schools)

Note 6: Time in schools may be completed on a part-time basis to make up the full-time equivalent amounts (return to training in schools)

Note 7: Or early years or further education settings (return to 2 schools)

Note 8: As defined by the latest school teachers’ pay and conditions document (return to employment-based criteria)

Note 9: Or ‘other institution’ as defined by the Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1662) as amended (return to employment-based criteria)

Note 10: Teach First (ITT) programme applicants must be admitted only with the agreement of the Teach First organisation (return to admissions)

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