Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department plans to include in the autism module that will be included in initial teacher training; and when delivery of that module will be commenced.

Teachers are required to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including autism, as part of the Teachers' Standards. In July 2016, the Department published a new framework for initial teacher training (ITT) content, which involves specific content on SEND, including autism. As part of ITT provider inspections, Ofsted has due regard to the Teachers’ Standards and framework of core content. 99% of all ITT partnerships inspected by Ofsted were judged to be either good or outstanding at their most recent inspection.

The Government does not prescribe the content of ITT courses. It is for ITT providers to use their judgement to determine the content and structure of courses. They must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level.

The Department has funded the Autism Education Trust (AET) since 2011 to deliver autism training to existing early years, schools and post-16 education staff in England. The AET has now trained more than 175,000 education staff to encourage a whole school approach to supporting children and young people with autism. In March 2018, the Department extended this contract by a further two years.