The initial teacher training (ITT) criteria apply to all ITT programmes, and are imposed by the Secretary of State under the Education (School Teachers' Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003, made under sections 132, 145 and 210 of the Education Act 2002. They set out the criteria which must be met by all those who train and assess trainee teachers against the Teachers’ Standards and make recommendations for the award of qualified teacher status (QTS).
The ITT criteria came into effect on 1 September 2012, replacing the ITT requirements. All ITT providers must ensure that all their programmes of ITT comply with these criteria.
All ITT providers will work in partnership, supported by partnership agreements. Partnerships can consist of:
- schools working with a higher education institution (HEI) as the accredited provider on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes,
- several schools working together, with or without the involvement of an HEI, to provide school-centred ITT (SCITT), and
- a school or schools working together, sometimes in partnership with an HEI, local authority, or commercial organisation to provide salaried routes to QTS.
Training routes may be undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time, and include distance learning and other flexible and salaried routes. They will all, however, lead to the award of QTS. Robust quality assurance arrangements will ensure that providers continue to comply with these criteria.
Ofsted will look at whether providers are meeting the criteria when it inspects their provision. Details of how they will do this are contained in the initial teacher education inspection handbook.
The aim of the supporting advice is to clarify the ITT criteria and to develop a common understanding among all providers and partners, particularly those new to ITT.
The supporting advice provides the scope of each criterion and, where relevant, sources of further information
