Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the intensive training and practice requirement of the initial teacher training criteria will be retained without reduction for courses beginning in September 2027.

Intensive training and practice (ITAP) is designed to strengthen trainees’ knowledge, understanding and classroom practice by supporting them to engage with evidence-based approaches, apply learning in practice and receive focused expert feedback.

ITAP was introduced as a requirement for all initial teacher training (ITT) courses leading to qualified teacher status from September 2024 and continues to be an important part of ITT. The department has provided funding to support the implementation of ITAP. This academic year, ITAP funding is conditional on providers ensuring that trainees are well-equipped to teach pupils with special needs and disabilities. This is a condition of grant funding only and the ITT criteria requirements on ITAP remain unchanged.

The department continues to monitor the effectiveness of all the ITT quality requirements but has no current plans to amend ITAP requirements for courses beginning in September 2027.