The revised Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) standards give providers of initial teacher training (ITT) increased flexibility in the way they design their programmes, and encourage the use of professional judgement in the assessment of trainees against them.
The purpose of this guidance is to help providers as they exercise that judgement and to help them maximise the opportunities for the development of their programmes that the QTS standards offer. It is designed to help everyone involved in ITT, including teacher trainees, to understand the scope and expectations of the standards. The guidance is non-statutory and will be kept under review.
We welcome comments on how this guidance might be improved: please send comments to: enquiries-itt@tda.gov.uk
This guidance will be of particular interest to accredited ITT providers, all schools, trainee teachers and employers, and includes:
- A rationale statement for each sub-section of the standards that sets out the background to why those standards are important
- A statement setting out the scope of each standard – what is encompassed by that standard, and what is not
- a series of questions to consider. These questions are not intended to be exhaustive, nor should they be used as a checklist of achievement. They are intended to guide assessors as they seek to identify assessment evidence relevant to the standard, and to guide trainees as to the expectations of that standard
- An indication for each sub-section of the standards of the likely sources of assessment evidence relevant to that group of standards
- Cross references with other standards. This is intended to promote holistic rather than atomistic assessment; providers will want to group the standards for the purposes of gathering assessment evidence
- Links to supporting resources. Trainees will find this section particularly useful to support their developing professional knowledge and practice and their academic endeavours.
The guidance focuses on assessment, because the standards are outcome statements that indicate what trainee teachers must know, understand and be able to do in order to achieve QTS. The many different people involved in assessment – school-based tutors, class teachers, higher education tutors and the trainees themselves – need to develop a common understanding of what is involved in meeting the standards.
Assessment against the standards is a matter of skilled professional judgement made at different times in different contexts, and often draws on evidence from a range of sources collected over time. The guidance draws attention to the kinds of evidence that could be relevant when making judgements about whether a trainee is meeting the standards in full.
Many of the standards are inter-related, and single assessment opportunities will produce evidence for several different standards.
The standards relating to professional attributes underpin all the rest: trainees should be able to show that they meet these standards in everything they do. The standards relating to professional knowledge are closely linked to those relating to professional skills. Successful trainees will demonstrate these standards in teaching as well as through their academic attainments.
