Guidance

Mandatory qualifications: specialist teachers

Mandatory qualifications for specialist teachers of pupils with hearing impairment, vision impairment or multi-sensory impairment.

Published 10 November 2014
Last updated 3 October 2016 — see all updates

• From: Department for Education and National College for Teaching and Leadership

Overview

To teach a class of pupils with hearing impairment (HI), vision impairment (VI), or multi-sensory impairment (MSI), a teacher must hold a mandatory qualification. This qualification is required in addition to qualified teacher status.

Providers

The following providers are approved to offer courses leading to the mandatory qualification, against the updated specifications from September 2016.

Provider	Specialism	Link to course details or contact
University of Birmingham	VI, HI and MSI	vision impairment, hearing impairment, multisensory impairment
University of Leeds	HI	hearing impairment
University of Manchester	HI	hearing impairment
Mary Hare School / University of Hertfordshire	HI	hearing impairment
University of Edinburgh	VI	vision impairment
Liverpool John Moores University / St Vincent’s special school	VI	Phil Carey

Specifications for mandatory qualifications

• For specialist teachers of children and young people with vision impairments (PDF, 349KB, 26 pages)

• For specialist teachers of deafblind children and young people (PDF, 352KB, 27 pages)

• For specialist teachers of children and young people who are deaf (PDF, 337KB, 27 pages)

Consultation

We reviewed the mandatory qualification, to ensure that it:

• reflects the changing landscape
• meets the needs of the profession and children and young people with sensory impairment
• meets Department for Education priorities to ensure schools, higher education institutions and others across the sector are working together to develop and provide training

A summary of responses to the consultation and the government’s response can be found on the consultation page.

Published 10 November 2014
Last updated 3 October 2016 + show all updates

1. 3 October 2016 Updated Mandatory Qualification provider list
2. 7 September 2015 Updates to specifications for Mandatory Qualifications for Sensory Impairment for courses starting September 2016.
3. 28 August 2015 Consultation information updated and a new call for providers.
4. 10 December 2014 Consultation has closed.
5. 10 November 2014 First published.