Draft Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026.
Thank you, Dr Huq, for chairing this Committee. Teacher training quality is critical across all phases of education, from early years through to adult education. In October 2025, the skills White Paper set out the vision for England’s skills system. The further education sector is central to that vision and requires high-quality teacher training to drive progress. The Government are acting to secure and improve the quality of FE teacher training; a high-quality, accessible and attractive teacher training offer will improve recruitment and retention in further education, support the commitment to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers and demonstrate a commitment to raising teaching standards across schools and colleges.
These regulations introduce a system across all types of providers of FE teacher training: universities, colleges, training providers and any other organisation offering specified FE teacher training courses. The regulations are based on clear expectations and quality standards and align with Ofsted’s initial teacher training education framework, which has been extended to encompass all publicly funded FE ITT.
Historically, the Government have regulated primary and secondary teacher training, but that has not applied to further education. Excellence does exist in parts of the system, but provision is inconsistent and some poor practice has been identified in recent years. Trainees in further education teaching have not always had the high-quality preparation that they require and employers cannot always be confident that their new teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their role.
Providers of FE teacher training courses specified by Government in this statutory instrument will be required to have regard to guidance on curriculum content and on delivery standards, to register with the Department for Education and to submit regular information and data to the DFE. We want the standards to be proportionate, but meaningful in terms of the shift they deliver. For the first time, Government, employers and prospective teachers will have transparency over what training is offered, where it is offered and who is offering it—transparency that supports a quality focus in the further education ITT system.
We want evidence-based standards that will help to drive consistency and improvement. Regulation will not constrain innovation and providers will retain flexibility to exercise professional judgment and expertise, as they do in initial teacher training in the schools space. The Department has engaged extensively with further education colleges and teacher training sector stakeholders; public consultations, a call for evidence and ongoing engagement have shaped the measures and there is broad consensus that the approach will drive up standards and maintain necessary flexibility. I give special thanks to the expert advisory group chaired by Anna Dawe OBE, principal of Wigan & Leigh college, a technical excellence college, and I commend the regulations to the Committee.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq.
These regulations introduce four key obligations for institutions delivering specified initial teacher training for further educational courses. First, providers must register with the Secretary of State, who will maintain and publish an official list of approved institutions, ensuring transparency and accountability across the sector. Secondly, institutions are required to follow delivery guidance—in other words, they must have regard to Government recommendations on how these courses are taught, helping to maintain consistent standards in teaching practice.
Thirdly, there is a requirement to follow curriculum guidance. Providers must consider Government advice on course content, ensuring that what is taught aligns with national expectations and priorities. Finally, institutions must meet data reporting requirements, which include supplying information on both current and completed students, supporting oversight, evaluation and continuous improvement.
These regulations come from the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, brought forward under the previous Conservative Government. Those reforms created more routes into skilled employment in sectors the economy needs, such as engineering, digital, clean energy and manufacturing, meaning that more young people can secure well-paid jobs in their local areas and support their local communities to thrive. Employers have been embedded at the heart of the skills system and colleges were given support to ensure that they could offer training places for all those 16 to 19-year-olds who wanted them.
The Conservative record on education is perhaps our proudest achievement. We left the country not only with the best-educated children in the western world, but with an increasing number able to go into technical education. We will not oppose these measures, though we do wish the Government did more to uphold the significantly higher standards that we left them.
Josh MacAlister
There is an opportunity here for a brief respite from what might be happening in the rest of the building and to share some cross-party agreement, so let me say that we were delighted that the previous Conservative Government, and before them the coalition Government, continued many of the reforms that the former Labour Government initiated in the academies programme and the focus on evidence. Across the House, there has been some solid progress in the education system, which has benefited many young people. I hope this is an area where we can continue to work on a constructive, cross-party basis.
The focus on what is perhaps a less exciting political debate, the content of teaching for those who teach, is so important; it is probably one of the biggest single drivers of performance in our education system, whether in primary school, secondary school or colleges. It is right and timely that we are now making those changes in the further education system that have led to positive progress and made a difference in our schools system. I thank members of the Committee for their consideration and you, Dr Huq, for chairing the Committee.
Question put and agreed to.