• Find an adult learning and skills inspection report
• Understanding an adult learning and skills inspection report
• Types of adult learning and skills Ofsted inspects
• Inspecting adult learning and skills
  • Inspecting further education and skills
  • Inspecting residential provision in colleges
  • Inspecting initial teacher education
• About our survey reports
• How to complain

Inspecting initial teacher education

We inspect:

• all accredited providers of initial teacher education (ITE) leading to qualified teacher status (QTS)
• publicly funded training of further education teachers validated by higher education institutions
• employment-based initial teacher training providers
• new providers in their second year of operation
• providers judged to be inadequate and/or non-compliant with the Secretary of State’s requirements for initial teacher education (reinspections undertaken in the following inspection year)
• Teach First (as one inspection of all provision across the regions and contracted providers).

Inspectors base their judgements on trainees’ results and how effective the provision is in securing those results. They include specific areas of training that are national priorities. Initial teacher education users’ views are taken into account, including former trainees and their employing institutions where possible, by:

• meeting with former trainees and/or induction tutors, managers in their school/college, local authority officers/advisers, and so on
• telephone interviews
• looking at evidence collected by the provider, but not submitted to support the self-evaluation (such as trainees’ evaluation)
• analysis of other admissible evidence; for qualified teacher status provision this would include the Training and Development Agency newly qualified teacher survey and evidence from induction tutors.

When we inspect, inspectors use a framework to guide them through inspection.

• Our single ITE inspection framework, Framework for the inspection of initial teacher education 2008–11 outlines the purpose, processes and procedures used for the ITE inspections carried out within the academic years 2008 to 2012.
• The Framework is complemented by our guidance for inspectors - The inspection of initial teacher education 2008–2011 and Grade criteria for the inspection of initial teacher education 2008-11.
• Providers are also inspected against the relevant requirements and standards set out in Professional standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for ITT, published by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, and/or New professional standards for teacher/tutor/ trainer education in the lifelong learning sector, published by LifeLong Learning UK, as appropriate.