Teachers 'best-trained ever' says Ofsted

Following the publication of two Ofsted reports into teacher training, the chief inspector of schools has said that today's newly qualified teachers "are the best-trained ever".

Speaking at today's launch of two new reports on the initial teacher training of primary and secondary teachers, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, said that although there have been significant improvements in all aspects of initial teacher training, "there are still challenges ahead".

The Ofsted reports compare inspection findings from the four years from 1998-2002 with those on the previous round of inspections of England's initial teacher training (ITT) providers during the mid to late-1990s.

The inspectors concluded that there were significant improvements in trainees' subject knowledge, their planning and teaching of lessons and the management of their classes. Although trainees have improved their ability to assess and record pupils' attainment, this remains the weakest area of their teaching.

According to the inspectorate, training was good or very good in more than 80% of the courses and by the end of the four-year inspection programme "almost none" of the courses were providing poor training.

School-centred ITT (SCITT) partnerships have shared in the general trend towards improvement – however, the inspectorate said that they continue to perform "less well overall than the higher education based partnerships".

Mr Bell said: "In spite of encouraging recent improvements many courses, especially mathematics, science and modern foreign languages, still fail to recruit sufficient trainees and in the future this is likely remain a challenge."

School Standards Minister David Miliband that the report presents a "unique opportunity to take forward the momentum of reform".

He added: "We are not complacent though. While all areas of teacher training have improved, some areas have improved less significantly than others. In those areas, the DfES has already begun working with the TTA to ensure further progress is made."

Approximately 22,000 people achieve Qualified Teacher Status each year. There are 97 secondary and 85 primary ITT providers in England. The reports are based on inspections of 273 primary ITT courses and 600 secondary subject ITT courses over the period 1998-2002.

(GMcG)