Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of amending the assessment only route to Qualified Teacher Status to allow applications from unqualified teachers who have worked in one school throughout their careers on teacher recruitment and retention.

The assessment only (AO) route to qualified teacher status (QTS) has been designed to allow experienced unqualified teachers to be assessed against the Teachers’ Standards and awarded QTS if they meet them all at the appropriate level.

The AO criteria sets out the entry requirements for the AO route. Applicants must have taught in at least two schools and must be able to demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards without the need for any further training. Typically, applicants with fewer than two years of teaching experience would be unsuitable for the AO route. The AO criteria can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64edf4006bc96d00104ed206/Assessment_only_route_to_QTS_-_criteria_and_supporting_advice.pdf.

The department continuously considers whether the criteria we have in place meets the needs of schools and teachers, as well as ensuring the high quality teaching that pupils and parents would expect.