Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) people on teacher training courses are trained in dealing with children with additional learning needs and (b) sufficient on-going training is offered to qualified teachers to ensure that an adequate level of training is maintained.

Initial teacher training (ITT) providers must design their courses to enable trainees to meet The Teachers’ Standards. These Standards set out the key elements of effective teaching and the minimum expectations for professional practice. In order to become a qualified teacher, trainees must satisfy the Standards, which include a requirement that they have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, and are able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

The Department published the Framework of Core Content for ITT in July 2016 to further support effective training. The Framework advises that, “ITT providers should ensure Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) training is integrated across the ITT programme”. The Department is currently undertaking an audit of SEND provision across ITT providers, which it will use to produce a best practice guide.

On 28 January 2019, the Department published the Recruitment and Retention strategy and the Early Career Framework (ECF). The ECF provides a two-year improved support package for newly qualified teachers, providing them with support they need to help all pupils succeed and widen access for all - including pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND code of practice.

Schools and headteachers are best placed to make specific decisions about how to support and improve their teachers, but the Department is assisting schools with this through the national network of teaching schools and the Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development.