Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) support PGCE candidates and others on teacher training programmes in the event that they cannot secure work placement positions due to the ongoing covid-19 outbreak and (b) promote alternative arrangements for those trainee teachers.

The Department has been working closely with initial teacher training (ITT) institutions to support trainees, including postgraduates, to secure training placements in schools this academic year. We have encouraged schools to host trainees, confirmed that trainees are critical?workers, and relaxed the criteria for the delivery of ITT in the 2020/21 academic year. The Department has supported the ITT sector to share innovative approaches to delivering school placements. Further information about the relaxations of the ITT criteria this academic year can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt

The Department is continuing to work with the sector to identify what further support may be needed to secure and deliver ITT school placements this academic year, including alternative arrangements for trainees whose placements are disrupted for a reason relating to the COVID-19 outbreak.