Baroness Donaghy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Donaghy on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, when considering the form of teacher accreditation to be introduced in place of qualified teacher status, what account they will take of the possibility of integrating academic awards such as the PGCE within the initial training of teachers.

Lord Nash

Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, announced that we intend to replace the existing qualified teacher status with a new, more challenging accreditation that will be based on the demonstration of effective teaching in the classroom.

Teaching is a graduate-level profession; all trainee teachers are required to have a degree or to achieve one as part of their initial training, and we have no plans to change that requirement.

There is currently no requirement for qualified teacher status to be accompanied by an additional academic award such as a PGCE, and we do not intend to introduce such a requirement to accompany accreditation in future. We know, however, that many trainee teachers value the award of an academic qualification, and we fully expect that providers of initial teacher training – whether school or university-led – will continue to offer the types of award for which there is demand.

The White Paper also set out the importance of on-going professional development for teachers, and we are keen to support the development of continuity between initial training, early-career support, and on-going professional development. The new accreditation, coming at a point following the completion of initial teacher training, will give schools the opportunity to tailor a package that recognises teachers’ achievements and promotes progression.