Warnings grow that three-year QTS could be ‘disastrous’ for teacher recruitment
Plans to award qualified teacher status (QTS) after three years of training could have a “disastrous” impact on recruitment, school-based teacher trainers have warned.
The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT) also said that moving to a three-year QTS could “devalue” the status of current teachers.
The Department for Education is currently consulting on proposals for “strengthening QTS”.
In December it suggested that rather than being awarded QTS after completing a year of initial teacher training as is currently the case, teachers could instead receive QTS after three years of training, including a two-year induction period working within a school.
In its response to the consultation, the NASBTT said it supported a longer induction period for new teachers, but added: “The language used around these proposals needs to be carefully considered so that unintended consequences are avoided.
“If prospective entrants to the profession see what was a one-year process suddenly appearing to be a three-year ‘marathon’, we may lose applicants which would be disastrous.” Read the full article on the Tes.
SCHOOLS NorthEast is currently formulating a response to the Government’s consultation on the proposals, which closes on 9th March. We would be grateful if you could contact our Policy Officer Christopher Hawkins with your views to help inform our response.