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14 April 2026

Tag: ITT

School-led teacher training routes pull further ahead

The proportion of trainee teachers that took the government’s favoured school-led route into the profession increased again last year, new figures have revealed. The Department for Education published initial teacher training statistics for 2016-17 this morning, and figures show the overall number of trainees gaining their QTS has remained stable at 91 per cent, the same […]

Teacher apprenticeship providers get fast-track treatment

Thirty-six teacher-training organisations have been approved to deliver apprenticeships after the Department for Education opened a secret application window just for them. Seventeen academy trusts, 11 schools, three universities, three councils and two other organisations were given special treatment after a “disastrous” first attempt by the government to get teacher training providers registered, which saw […]

Five ways the DfE has damaged teacher recruitment

Teacher training has always been too important to dabble with, as the implications of not getting the very best teachers in front of children in schools will affect the future of our country and society, explains Professor David Spendlove We should all be seriously concerned about the Department for Education’s two recent communications on initial […]

Why a SEND initial teacher training pathway is a bad idea

Inclusive pedagogy should be built into the fabric of every initial teacher training programme, rather than bolted on as an afterthought, argues Jacqui Ver Loren van Themaat Many people across the sector have called for more in-depth knowledge in initial teacher training (ITT): more behaviour-management strategies, more focus on subject knowledge, and more special educational needs […]

Ignore the rise in school-led teacher training routes – universities are here to stay

The Department for Education’s recent Teacher Training Performance Profiles for 2015/16 prompted inevitable cries in the media of “the end of initial teacher training in universities”. They’re wrong, argues David Spendlove. Once again the DfE’s training figures, which showed an increase in school-led training, are more down to its own creative accounting than any radical […]

Government presses on with non-graduate teaching apprenticeship

Ministers are pressing ahead with proposals for an apprenticeship that would allow non-graduate teaching assistants to become qualified teachers, even though access to conventional teacher training would still be restricted to those with university degrees. Anne Milton (pictured), the minister for skills, has confirmed that the government is “developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship” that will […]

Government invites bidders for new ‘innovative’ teacher training fund

The government is inviting bidders to apply for new funding to develop “innovative approaches” to initial teacher training. Education secretary Justine Greening announced the plans in March to ensure, she said, that “high-quality new teachers reach schools and areas that need them most”. She did not say how much cash was up for grabs, but […]

Teacher trainers blast DfE for hiding allocation data

The government is under fire for its “unprecedented” refusal to reveal the full allocations for next year’s initial teacher training (ITT), even though officials have had the information for nearly six months. Teacher training providers including universities and schools were told last September how many students they could take onto their programmes for the academic […]