Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the initial teacher training core content and early careers frameworks prioritise adaptive teaching for children with special educational needs and disability in accordance with individual need.

The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) has been designed with the knowledge that the quality of teaching is the most important factor in improving outcomes for pupils, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with additional needs. Careful consideration has been given to the needs of trainee teachers in relation to supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and the Early Career Framework (ECF) builds on that learning for early career teachers (ECTs). These reforms support the department’s ambition that all new teachers starting in the profession learn how to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

Both the CCF and the ECF outline what trainee and new teachers should learn, and should learn how to do, in respect of adaptive teaching. The CCF sets out a minimum entitlement for trainee teachers and places a duty on ITT providers and their partner schools to meet this entitlement through incorporating the CCF into their course curricula. Courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 5 that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. To be recommended by an accredited provider for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), trainees must demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. To pass statutory teacher induction, ECTs must demonstrate that they meet the Teachers' Standards through a formal assessment, signed off by their head teacher and independently checked by their appropriate body.

The department is exploring opportunities to build teacher expertise through a review of the CCF and ECF frameworks. Aiming to conclude by the end of 2023, the review will identify how the frameworks can equip new teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND.