Top of the class for Northumbria’s Teacher Training

The Government’s regulator for assessing teaching standards across the UK has given Northumbria University’s Teacher Training programmes a resounding thumbs up for the twelfth year running – the only university to sustain this record in the UK.

OFSTED, the government department responsible for assessing the quality of education and Teacher Training, has rated the Northumbria University-managed North East Partnership’s Teacher Training programmes as ‘outstanding’.

In addition, the partnership’s Physical Education training has been rated ‘outstanding’ in every category – one of only three PE courses in the UK to achieve this standard.

The North East Partnership provides a school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) programme for graduates. Trainees who successfully complete the programme are recommended for qualified teacher status (QTS) and gain either a professional or postgraduate Certificate in Education. The partnership consists of 29 secondary schools across eight local authorities in the North East with Northumbria University working as the managing agent for the Partnership.

The inspectors made particular reference to the Partnership’s “rigorous quality assurance procedures” and the “consistently high outcomes for trainees including their high levels of attainment and exceptional completion and employment rates over time.”

Jim Clark, Head of Department for Education and Lifelong Learning said: “It is fair to say that OFSTED has given our teacher training a glowing review - and perhaps one of the best I have ever seen. To my knowledge, this is an unprecedented success rate and a real coup for our university.

“The North East Partnership has a real pedigree for offering training that prepares excellent teachers for classrooms and this latest OFSTED assessment reflects that. The Partnership is just that – a true partnership with the schools, which means that Northumbria graduates leave us with a real-world understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a great teacher.”

Professor Kath McCourt, Executive Dean for Northumbria’s Health and Life Sciences said: “All of us remember a favourite teacher from our school days; someone who inspired us to work harder and push ourselves further. I take great pride in the knowledge that the quality of our programmes is helping to create the new generation of favourite teachers - each of whom will nurture the students who will study with us in years to come.

“To be the only university in the UK to have sustained an outstanding review since 2002 is a real achievement and I’d like to extend my congratulations to everyone who has been involved. Such is the demand for our high-quality teacher training, that we receive ten applications for every one place on our programmes. This ‘outstanding’ assessment from OFSTED means that we can broaden our appeal further and attract more of the highest-quality students to study at Northumbria.”