This page contains information about the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) scheme which comes to an end on 31 August 2013.
Under this scheme ASTs are required to spend 20% of their time undertaking outreach work in other schools with the exception of ASTs working in schools facing challenging circumstances who may instead undertake inreach work in their own schools.
All teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) are eligible to apply for assessment against the AST professional standards. To become an AST, a teacher must identify a suitable vacant AST post and be successfully assessed against the AST standards by the independent Excellent Teacher (ET) and AST national assessment agency.
Further information about the scheme, eligibility and criteria can be found in the AST Guidance.
AST application forms
Applying for an AST post is voluntary and those teachers wishing to apply should complete the AST1 application form for assessment. There are separate application forms for teachers currently on the main-pay scale; post-threshold; and Excellent Teachers. Welsh language forms are also available.
AST guidance: Important updates
The AST guidance: Promoting Excellence was first published by the Department in 2009 and the majority of this guidance is still relevant but it is important to note that the information about funding and core standards is out of date.
The FAQs document on this page details how the funding arrangements will operate from April 2013.
From 1 September 2012, all references to core standards should be read as referring to the new teachers’ standards in England. For schools in Wales the equivalent is the Practising Teacher Standards.
Future arrangements for ASTs
Please see the FAQs document on this page for details of the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations about the AST standard. The recommendations, which have been accepted, include discontinuation of the AST standard and school discretion to create higher salary posts (akin to AST) for teachers whose primary purpose is the modelling and leading improvement of teaching skills. The 2013 School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) has been published so that schools are able to plan for the changes that need to be made from 1 September.
The arrangements for AST and ET assessment set out in the STPCD 2012 will continue to apply during the lifetime of that document, so although the AST scheme is coming to an end, it is still possible to be assessed against the standards and appointed to an AST post before the end of the summer term.
Additional information about ASTs
Additional information about ASTs, the assessment process, and support tools can be found on the website of the National Assessment Agency for ASTs and ETs.
