Teacher training shake up aims to give the profession the same status as doctors and lawyers

The traditional qualified teacher status (QTS) accreditation is to be scrapped and replaced with a new scheme which will see teachers formally approved when they are considered ready by school leaders.

A new education white paper say the changes to these qualifications will recognise teachers “for the experts that they are and give teaching the same status as doctors and lawyers”.

However a teaching union leader has said that the Government moving towards a school-based teacher training had contributed to shortages in the profession.

Kevin Courtney, the deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers said: “Leaving schools and heads to decide whether a teacher has reached suitable standards lacks coherence.”

And John Pugh MP, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said: “This is a disgraceful step which will drive down standards, disempower parents and devalue teachers.

“Teachers are held to a high standard because the job they do is so important. It is right that their expertise is formally recognised and it is right that parents know the level of training and experience they can expect from their child’s teacher.” He said the plan would lead to unacceptable variation in teaching standards.”

Currently, new teachers in England complete their teaching and then spend around a year in the classroom before being awarded QTS - which shows they have met a minimum set of professional standards to teach.

But ministers have said this will be axed and a new, more challenging accreditation brought in based on a teacher’s performance in the classroom.

It is understood that some teachers will achieve this status quickly while it could take others a few years to be approved.

The decision on whether a teacher has proved that they are working to a high enough standard to be awarded the new accreditation will be taken by their head teacher, and seconded by another school leader.

It also means that it is easier for schools to hire experts such as scientists and historians, who have not been through official teacher training, and set them on the road to accreditation.

But the move is likely to raise concerns in some quarters that teachers working towards the new status will be paid less for longer.

The White Paper says: “This new accreditation will raise the quality and status of the teaching profession.”

It adds: “The new process will put the best headteachers in charge of accrediting new entrants to the profession, and give schools more scope to bring in experts from other fields - for example, a talented musician or coder - and put them on a pathway to full accreditation, where their skills can be recognised.”

The White Paper sets out plans for headteachers sent into failing to schools to be given 30 months to improve standards without facing an inspection.

Currently, Ofsted would check more frequently on a school considered inadequate.

The move comes amid concerns by school leaders that heads who take on a job in a failing school are risking their careers by doing so if they do not show improvement quickly.

The new improvement period will allow these heads “the time and stability to put in train sustainable improvement”, the White Paper says.

There are also plans for Ofsted to consult on removing their judgment on quality of teaching, to make it clear that schools should be held to account on pupils’ results rather than the teaching styles they use.

The government document also confirms plans announced in the Budget for all schools to become academies, or in the process of converting to an academy by the end of 2020.

In a speech today, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “Rather than being an almost automatic award to staff who complete initial teacher training and a year in the classroom, the new accreditation will be awarded when teachers have demonstrated deep subject knowledge, and the ability to teach well.

“Most fundamentally of all - as in other mature professions like medicine and law - it will be for the teaching profession itself to decide when a teacher is ready to be accredited.” The proposals have received a mixed reaction. Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: “We welcome plans to replace existing Qualified Teacher Status with a new system in which teachers will complete an extended period in classrooms before being accredited by school leaders.

“We believe this will help to ensure the highest standards and that it will be good for both new teachers and for schools. We look forward to working with the Government on the detailed plans.

“We are also pleased to see plans to introduce an ‘improvement period’ during which schools won’t be inspected by Ofsted to allow the time and stability to put in place sustainable improvement.

“This is an important step in ensuring that leaders in struggling schools are given a period in which to embed improvement measures. Transforming a school does not happen overnight and this measure reflects that.”

Mr Courtney said: “Getting rid of Qualified Teacher Status is a clear indication of how little this Government respects teachers or parents, who believe their children should be taught by a qualified teacher...The shift towards school-based teacher education has contributed to current shortages, yet it is a policy that the White Paper wants to take even further. Finland, for example, which tops international education league tables, educates teachers to master level. This policy is going in the wrong direction and should be of concern to everyone.”