Two 鈥渃old spot鈥 teacher training providers snubbed in the government鈥檚 ITT re-accreditation have since earned glowing Ofsted reports. Leaders at Fylde Coast SCITT in Blackpool are 鈥渟truggling to explain鈥 to heads why they won鈥檛 have its service next year, with inspectors saying it is 鈥渨ell on the way to providing an excellent standard鈥 of training. The University of Sussex鈥檚 school teacher training was also rated as 鈥榞ood’, with Ofsted finding trainees 鈥渋mmersed in strongly research-based and ambitious programmes鈥. Both providers had 鈥渙utstanding鈥 leadership and management. But neither was approved in the Department for Education鈥檚 controversial re-accreditation last year to implement the initial teacher training reforms from September next year. Sam Twiselton In September last year, the department passed its new quality requirements, well below the 240 providers in England. Professor Sam Twiselton, a government adviser on the ITT review, said the process had led to 鈥渟ome bad and unintended consequences鈥, adding: 鈥淚 would trust Ofsted far more than the accreditation process.鈥 David Spendlove, professor of education at the Manchester Institute of Education, said it was 鈥渃ompletely unacceptable鈥 that providers who 鈥渉ave worked tirelessly for many years to meet the exacting demands of Ofsted鈥 were taken out by a 鈥渃ompletely different threat鈥. 鈥淔rom start to finish the accreditation process has been a sham and this latest example further confirms the damage that is being done.鈥 Trainees ‘enthused by momentum’ In January, inspectors praised Fylde Coast for having 鈥渁mbitious鈥 programmes that 鈥済o well beyond the requirements鈥 of the DfE鈥檚 core content framework. While the overall mark fell from 鈥榦utstanding鈥 to 鈥榞ood鈥, leadership and management were still given top marks under the tougher inspection framework introduced in 2021. Trainees 鈥 35 this year 鈥 were 鈥渆nthused by the momentum that leaders have created鈥, the report read. Aly Spencer, the head of ITT, said it was 鈥渟truggling to explain鈥 to heads and prospective students why there would be no SCITT after next year. 鈥淎ll we really want to know is why we’re not allowed to carry on when Ofsted has yet again produced a glowing report about our teacher training programmes. Nobody can give us the answer.鈥 Twiselton said she had advised the DfE to bring in the new criteria and then get 鈥渞igorous鈥 Ofsted to inspect. But instead 鈥渋t was a desktop process that the DfE had to do 鈥 it didn鈥檛 speak to anybody, it just looked at some documentation that was sent in鈥. She said Ofsted 鈥渓ived with you鈥 for a week, met trainees in school and in the centre, talked to mentors and picked up 鈥渁ll the stones鈥 and looked underneath them. I would trust Ofsted far more than the accreditation process.鈥 ‘A highly questionable move’ The University of Sussex鈥檚 school teacher provision was rated 鈥榞ood鈥 with secondary leadership and management and early years given the coveted 鈥榦utstanding鈥 stamp. It has about 300 trainees this year. Inspectors found the trainees were 鈥渇urnished with a deeper, more mature understanding of relationships, behaviour and communication鈥. Several universities didn鈥檛 make it through accreditation, including Durham, a member of the Russell Group. A Sussex spokesperson said the decision to remove accreditation from well-respected universities during a national teaching crisis was 鈥渁 highly questionable move鈥. The university would form a partnership until it could re-apply for accreditation in 2025. Both institutions are in one of the 18 areas eligible for grants to help them support new partnerships 鈥 so-called 鈥渃old spots鈥 of teacher trainers. Most unaccredited providers rated ‘good’ or better Since re-accreditation began in December 2021, analysis by Schools Week shows Ofsted has inspected 22 providers that later found they would not be accredited from 2024, or who had decided to merge with another organisation. Of these 14 were rated 鈥榞ood鈥 and two 鈥榦utstanding鈥. Four were 鈥榬equires improvement鈥 and two 鈥榠nadequate鈥. North West SHARES SCITT in Wigan was rated 鈥榦utstanding鈥 this month. It did not apply for re-accrediation and is looking to join a local partnership. Before the successful programmes were announced, PE-specialist North East Partnership SCITT in North Shields was rated as 鈥榦utstanding鈥 for the fourth time. A spokesperson said it was 鈥渉ugely disappointed鈥 to not be reaccredited and it would now joins a partnership. Emma Hollis, executive director at the聽National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, said they had “consistently argued, without being heard, that we felt that Ofsted inspections are a more robust measure of the quality of provision and that the accreditation process was fundamentally a flawed one”. Ofsted said the DfE accreditation and its current inspection cycle were separate entities. The DfE said it 鈥渞emains ready鈥 to support unsuccessful providers in developing partnerships. A spokesperson added: 鈥淭he department firmly believe that the ITT accreditation process administered was the best way of assessing providers’ potential to incorporate the new quality requirements into their ITT programmes, whilst ensuring it was fair and manageable for applicants. “We are confident in the robustness of our assessments and assessed applications in combination with Ofsted, who brought considerable knowledge and expertise to the process. “All assessors received training and applications were subject to moderation to ensure that scoring criteria was fair and consistent.”
21 March 2023 One provider resubmitted,keeping in the paragraphs that had been accpeted the first time around and refining only thsoe about which there had been queries – but had all their new paragraphs accepted but were nonetheless rejected because of a paragrpah previously thought acceptable! So this quote from the DFE seems fanciful to say the least.