Initial Teacher Training

Robin Walker Excerpts

Wednesday 1st December 2021 Written Statements

[The Minister for School Standards (Mr Robin Walker)]

Today, I am announcing the publication of the Government’s response to the Initial Teacher Training Market Review report.

The ITT Market Review report was published in July 2021. The report draws on a strong evidence base and best practice examples to support its 14 recommendations for improving and delivering high-quality teacher training. After its publication, we held a public consultation and stakeholder engagement programme on the review recommendations to ask for input from ITT providers, schools, teachers and interested bodies. This engagement has been crucial in informing the detail of the Government’s response to the review.

The Government response to the ITT Market Review report sets out our plans for a new ITT market. These plans are based on many of the review’s recommendations and the best available evidence on the features of world-class training.

Our reforms to the ITT market will deliver consistently high-quality training so that all teachers begin their careers with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in the classroom. The reforms establish a new set of quality requirements for all ITT programmes that lead to qualified teacher status. These will ensure that all ITT providers offer:



an evidence-based training curriculum that, at a minimum, applies the principles of the ITT core content framework;

intensive training and practice opportunities to students;

a lead mentor or mentor leadership team to support trainees, with all mentors themselves offered a training curriculum.

When formulating our response, we have fully considered all views and feedback from the consultation and wider stakeholder engagement. While we want the reforms set out in the response implemented as soon as possible, we have listened to the sector and understand that, to ensure success, we need to give schools and ITT providers reasonable time to prepare for implementation. We have therefore decided to extend the implementation timeline by one year, meaning that all ITT programmes leading to QTS will need to comply with the new ITT quality requirements from September 2024.

Most of the recommendations proposed in the ITT Market Review have been accepted with some amendments and clarifications based on the feedback received. These amendments include funding to support mentoring requirements, reducing some of the proposed minimum time allocations and giving providers more flexibility in how they deliver the new intensive placement.

We have also accepted the review recommendation of an accreditation process that will require ITT providers to demonstrate that they meet the quality requirements. An accreditation process is necessary to ensure that all providers are treated fairly and that both new and existing providers meet the new requirements.

We will provide funding to support the implementation of these and further measures outlined in the Government response in 2024-25. Additional funding will be subject to future spending review outcomes.

The Government are committed to levelling up education standards to help every child reach their full potential. Brilliant teachers are central to this ambition, which is why we are creating a world-class teacher development system, providing teachers and school leaders with evidence-based training and support at every stage of their career.

[HCWS434]