Initial Teacher Training Market Review

(asked on 16th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the value of the Initial Teacher Training Market Review to meeting teacher recruitment targets.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 22nd December 2022

The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) reforms are a significant step in the delivery of the Department’s programme to create a world class teacher development system and transform the support teachers receive at every stage of their career. 179 providers have been accredited to deliver ITT from September 2024, following a rigorous accreditation process designed to drive up the quality and consistency of ITT leading to Qualified Teacher Status. These providers cover all regions of the country and include new entrants to the market.

Safeguarding teacher supply is a key priority. The Department will continually monitor provision levels to ensure that there are sufficient ITT places to meet teacher recruitment targets. The reforms aim to ensure every trainee experiences high quality and coherent ITT programmes.

The accreditation process concluded in September 2022 and was followed by an appeals process, which concluded in December 2022. The Department does not intend to run any further accreditation rounds before the first delivery of reformed ITT in September 2024.

The Department expects the next round of accreditation to take place during the 2025/26 academic year, after the reforms have embedded into the system. The Department will continue to work with the high quality providers who have been accredited to ensure that sufficient training places are available in any areas of concern.

The Department is working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure sufficient ITT places across the country from the 2024/25 academic year. The Department is focusing on utilising local knowledge and relationships as well as prioritising a sector led approach to sufficiency. This includes working with a range of sector stakeholders to ensure a wide range of views are represented, including those of Universities Council for The Education of Teachers, The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, and different Higher Education Institutions representative groups.

The Department is actively encouraging partnership and expansions in areas which may have fewer providers following the accreditation process. Some providers have indicated that positive discussions are underway. To support these partnership conversations, the Department published guidance on 12 December and confirmed that funding will be available to support with the costs of developing partnerships in key regions. The guidance can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1123075/Initial_teacher_training__ITT__-_forming_partnerships.pdf.

The Department is clear that implementing these changes now, will give all trainees across the country access to the highest quality ITT provision. A value for money assessment of the ITT Market Review was completed and published in 2022 as part of the accounting officer assessment for the ITT Reform programme. This concluded that the programme represented good value for money for the Exchequer.

Officials regularly meet with sector bodies and stakeholders that fulfil important roles and have an interest in teacher training and the recruitment and retention of teachers.

This engagement includes regular meetings with Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers and representative bodies such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and the National School Based-Teacher Trainers (NASBTT).

In our Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2019), the Department committed to reviewing the ITT market to support it to work more efficiently and effectively. Throughout the ITT Market Review, officials engaged with UCET, NASBTT and other representatives of teacher training providers including meeting with Russell Group universities involved in teacher training.

The Department is also focusing on utilising local knowledge and relationships as well as prioritising a sector-led approach to sufficiency, working closely with experts including UCET, NASBTT and Teaching School Hubs Council. The Department will continue to work with sector stakeholders to help support targeted provider expansion and partnerships.

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