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At the beginning of the Teacher Training Agency’s (TTA) (now the Training and
Development Agency for Schools) inspection regime only 50 or 60% of ITT
providers fell into the top two quality categories. The link between quality
and allocations either drove poor quality providers out of the market, or
motivated them to improve. In 2003, the national inspection agency reported
that England had ‘the best generation of teachers ever and the best generation
of Newly Qualified Teachers ever’. By 2004, over 95% of ITT provision was in
the top two categories and the TTA felt that it could now reduce the costly
pressure of intensive inspection for the best providers. Until 2001/2, every provider received a full inspection in every phase and subject every three years. After that, until 2004/5 the burden of inspection was reduced for ITT providers in the top two quality categories. They received only one short inspection of the management and quality assurance of ITT provision. Only if this ‘light touch’ inspection revealed serious weaknesses, was a full inspection triggered. In future, there are plans for an even lighter approach to inspection for ITT providers in the top two quality categories. They will receive continuous short inspections over three years, looking at provision as a whole, using sampling. ITT providers in the lowest quality category will continue to get a full inspection every three years. There is some concern that now there are fewer levers to drive up the quality of provision standards of provision may fall back. The TDA (formerly the TTA) is also considering how it might continue to improve the quality of a system that is now performing extremely well. One option might be, for example, to motivate Category B providers to move into Category A by offering increased funding to those in Category A. |
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