Aspiring teachers across the country are set to benefit from a
number of changes designed to allow them to begin training, and
make a difference in the classroom, more quickly.
School Standards Minister has today (12 February) announced
that thousands of would-be teachers are now eligible for three
attempts at the professional skills tests they must pass to begin
Initial Teacher Training (ITT) before they incur any cost, rather
than one.
On top of this change – worth up to £77 per candidate – the
government has removed the lock-out period that previously
prevented candidates from re-taking tests for two years if they
had been unsuccessful in two re-sits.
The changes follow feedback from the teaching profession and
remove financial and administrative barriers – ensuring capable
trainees do not give up on their hopes of becoming a teacher
while they wait to re-take the tests.
Since the government introduced the more rigorous skills tests in
2012, the entry requirements to teacher training have remained
unchanged so that only the very best and brightest enter the
profession. Today’s announcement builds on a number of measures
to recruit and retain high-calibre teachers, including a
£75million investment in teachers’ professional development and
follows the recruitment of 32,000 new trainees in 2017.
School Standards Minister said:
Standards are rising, with 1.9million more children in good or
outstanding schools since 2010 and a record number of teachers
in our schools – 15,500 more than in 2010.
In 2012, the government introduced more rigorous skills tests
for teachers to ensure they have the highest standards of
English and maths. The bar for entrance to the teaching
profession remains as high as ever, as parents and pupils would
expect, and this is evidenced by the fact that the quality of
new entrants into the profession is at an all-time high, with
19% of this year’s cohort holding a first-class degree.
It is absolutely right that aspiring teachers can begin
training as soon as they prove they are ready and these changes
- backed by the profession - will help ambitious graduates to
join the profession.
Professional bodies such as the National Association of
School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT) and the Universities’
Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET), have welcomed the
changes.
Emma Hollis, Executive Director of NASBTT, said:
NASBTT welcomes these changes to the administration of the
skills tests. We have seen all too many examples of candidates
with excellent potential being locked out of the profession for
the sake of one or two marks on a test. This move will keep the
profession open to those who deserve the opportunity to train
to teach.
James Noble-Rogers, Executive Director of UCET, said:
This is a sensible and pragmatic move. It will allow
potentially good teachers who would otherwise have been kept
out of the profession to begin their training.
In the past good candidates have been prevented from re-taking
the skills tests because they failed by just one or two marks,
often because of the pressure they experience having reached
their final attempt.
The measures announced today will be effective from 15 February,
but are relevant to all applicants who applied on or after 24
October 2017 - with refunds offered automatically. Candidates
still need a degree for graduate training and all assessment
criteria for Qualified Teacher Status remain unchanged.
The recently published 2017 Initial Teacher Training census
showed that more than 32,000 new trainee teachers were recruited
in a competitive labour market, with historic low unemployment
rates and a growing economy, showing that the teaching profession
continues to be an attractive career.
In full today’s changes are:
- The removal of a lock-out period that previously prevented
aspiring teachers from re-taking tests for two years;
- No limit on the number of tests, and the first three tests
are free of charge to all candidates; and
- Refunds for anyone who has already paid for tests in this
year’s recruitment cycle – on or since 24 October 2017.
Today’s news adds to a growing number of initiatives to attract
the brightest and best into the teaching profession, including:
- Increasing bursaries to £26,000 for all trainees with a 2:2
or higher in the highest priority subjects; physics, languages,
chemistry, biology, computing, geography and classics.
- Offering a £20,000 bursary for maths trainees followed by two
additional early-career payments of £5k each (£7,500 if teaching
in local authority areas where teachers are most needed) in their
third and fifth year of teaching, if they have taught in a state
school in England since completing their teacher training course.
- Offering scholarship schemes in six subjects for 2018/19;
physics, maths, languages, chemistry, computing, and geography.
Successful scholars will receive £28,000 tax-free in all subjects
except maths, where scholars will receive £22,000 tax-free.
- Offering bursaries for English trainees have been increased
to £15,000 for all trainees with a 2:2 or higher, and bursaries
in all other subjects are unchanged for 2018 to 2019.
