Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of training in supporting children with special needs newly qualified teachers receive.

To be awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), all teachers must be able to meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The standards require teachers to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs (SEN) and must be able to adapt teaching to the needs of all pupils, as well as have an understanding of the factors that can inhibit learning and how to overcome them.

The Government, does not prescribe the content or structure of training courses, and does not maintain a record of the hours of training provided to newly qualified teachers by topics. Teacher-training providers and schools are in the best position to judge these in line with the newly qualified teacher’s developmental requirement and local need.

To help support schools and teachers identify and participate in the most effective development activities, the Government published a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development in July 2016.

The standard can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-for-teachers-professional-development.