Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources his Department has made available to secondary schools in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England to enable more trainee teachers to be accommodated on work placement positions during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Department has been working to support schools throughout England to host trainee teachers on placements during the COVID-19 outbreak. We have relaxed the criteria for the delivery of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2020/21 academic year to support schools to host trainees in the current operating environment, for example, by suspending the expectation that trainees train to teach in at least two schools. The criteria is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt.

We have also suggested roles that trainee teachers can undertake in schools in 2020/21 in the Department’s guidance on the full opening of schools, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#school-workforce.

For the 2019/20 cohort, we have made funding available for course extensions to enable schools to host trainees for an additional period of time as they work towards qualification.

These measures are intended to support schools throughout England, including secondary schools in St Helens North constituency and the North West, and are set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt#trainees-not-recommended-for-qts-in-2019-to-2020.