Providing the best possible initial teacher training (ITT) is the focus of the Department\u2019s drive to improve teaching standards. In order to be awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), trainees must demonstrate that they have met the Teachers\u2019 Standards, which includes a requirement that they demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge. Ofsted is responsible for testing the quality of teacher training and at their most recent inspection, 99% of all teacher training providers were rated good or outstanding.<\/p>
<\/p>
The amount of time that primary trainees spend in training on each of the subjects in the national curriculum is not specified by the Government. It is for ITT providers to use their professional judgement to determine the content and structure of courses, but they must be designed so that trainees can demonstrate that they meet all the required standards at the appropriate level by the end of their training. This includes religious education.<\/p>
<\/p>
In July 2016, the Department published a \u2018framework of core content for initial teacher training\u2019, further guidance which states that \u2018trainees must be conversant with a range of effective subject-specific pedagogical approaches\u2019. The framework also outlines providers\u2019 responsibility to audit trainees\u2019 subject knowledge early in their training and make provision to ensure that trainees have sufficient subject knowledge to satisfy the standard by the end of their training.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/111", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Gibb"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Gibb"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-03T15:17:58.797Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Teachers: Training"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department have made of the quality of training for primary teachers in religious education; and if he will make a statement.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4316", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mike Kane"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wythenshawe and Sale East"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mike Kane"} ], "uin" : "282360"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1142195", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1142195/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Decisions relating to teachers\u2019 professional development rests with schools, headteachers, and teachers. The Department does not decide how much of a school\u2019s budget should be used for teachers\u2019 professional development. They are helped by the Standard for Teachers\u2019 Professional Development, which was developed by an expert group of headteachers, teachers and academics. This supports teachers and headteachers to understand what makes professional development effective and how to make choices to prioritise high quality professional development.<\/p>
Initial Teacher Training providers should also equip trainee teachers to analyse the strengths and needs of all pupils effectively, ensuring that trainees have an understanding of cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and mental health factors that can inhibit pupils\u2019 education.<\/p>
The Department has previously announced funding of up to £6 million in this financial year to support schools in delivering high quality teaching of relationships education in all primary schools, relationships and sex education in all secondary schools and health education in all schools. This funding will focus on developing a programme to help all schools improve their teaching practice, such as an implementation guide, easy access to high quality resources, and support for staff training. The Department will ensure that all of the materials supporting implementation of the new subjects are inclusive.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/111", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Gibb"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Gibb"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "282186"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-03T07:41:20.223Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Teachers: Training"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve training on LGBT matters for secondary school teachers.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Coventry South"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Jim Cunningham"} ], "uin" : "282185"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1142199", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1142199/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Decisions relating to teachers\u2019 professional development rests with schools, headteachers, and teachers. The Department does not decide how much of a school\u2019s budget should be used for teachers\u2019 professional development. They are helped by the Standard for Teachers\u2019 Professional Development, which was developed by an expert group of headteachers, teachers and academics. This supports teachers and headteachers to understand what makes professional development effective and how to make choices to prioritise high quality professional development.<\/p>
Initial Teacher Training providers should also equip trainee teachers to analyse the strengths and needs of all pupils effectively, ensuring that trainees have an understanding of cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and mental health factors that can inhibit pupils\u2019 education.<\/p>
The Department has previously announced funding of up to £6 million in this financial year to support schools in delivering high quality teaching of relationships education in all primary schools, relationships and sex education in all secondary schools and health education in all schools. This funding will focus on developing a programme to help all schools improve their teaching practice, such as an implementation guide, easy access to high quality resources, and support for staff training. The Department will ensure that all of the materials supporting implementation of the new subjects are inclusive.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/111", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Gibb"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Gibb"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "282185"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-03T07:41:20.267Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Teachers: Training"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to increase funding allocated to training for secondary school teachers on LGBT matters.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Coventry South"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Jim Cunningham"} ], "uin" : "282186"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1140591", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1140591/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Higher education providers have legal responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) to support students, including those with mental health conditions. As independent and autonomous institutions it is for providers to determine the precise nature of any mental health training they offer to staff.<\/p>
<\/p>
Mental health service provision is a priority for the government, which is why the former Prime Minister (Theresa May), my right. Hon friend for Maidenhead recently announced measures on 17 June which overhaul the government\u2019s approach to preventing mental illness. These measures included providing £1 million to the Office of Students (OfS) for a competition to find innovative new ways to support mental health at universities and colleges. The OfS is currently working with students, sector representatives, experts and relevant government departments to develop priorities. They aim to publish further details by the end of the year.<\/p>
<\/p>
The department is also working closely with Universities UK on embedding the Step Change programme. This calls on higher education leaders to adopt mental health service provision as a strategic priority and take a whole-institution approach to embed a culture of good mental health practice.<\/p>
<\/p>
The University Mental Health Charter, which was announced in June 2018, is also expected to drive up standards in promoting mental health and wellbeing, positive working environments and excellent support for both students and staff.<\/p>
<\/p>
The former Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Chris Skidmore), my hon. Friend for Kingswood gave a speech on 7 May 2019 that focused on early career researcher contracts and employment conditions. The Independent Review of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, led by Professor Julia Buckingham, has recognised issues of wellbeing and poor mental health as a significant challenge faced by early career academics and researchers. Recommendations to address these challenges are currently under review and a revised concordat is expected in September.<\/p>
<\/p>
We hope future joint work by the OfS and Research England into the mental health and wellbeing of doctoral researchers can identify good practice to take forward in this area.<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4039", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Orpington"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Joseph Johnson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-08-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1140591/answer/previousversion/131141", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4021", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Skidmore"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Kingswood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Chris Skidmore"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-08-08T12:57:08.547Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Teachers: Training"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of mental heath training for teachers and lecturers at universities.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Coventry South"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Jim Cunningham"} ], "uin" : "279378"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134890", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134890/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The areas for the test and learn phase for teaching school hubs were chosen to test a variety of areas, for example, rural, coastal, urban or areas of high deprivation. This was done to test how the teaching school hub model will work in different contexts, prior to a decision being made about national roll out. There is one test and learn area in each regional schools commissioner region. In most cases, the area defined will cover whole local authority districts, aggregating to cover 200 to 300 schools.<\/p>
The Department has published a prospectus which includes the names of the local authority districts in each region covered by the initiative. The prospectus can be found here:<\/p>
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45<\/a>.<\/p> As the Department will be funding a maximum of only one hub in each region, it will be for the successful applicants to define the areas in which they operate. The Department will, however, expect hubs to serve all the state schools in their chosen areas.<\/p> The deadline for applications is Friday 26 July and it is not until after this date that it will be possible to determine the exact areas covered.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/111", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Gibb"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bognor Regis and Littlehampton"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Gibb"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "269622"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-01T16:56:56.64Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Teachers: Training"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools are allocated to each of the teaching school alliance hubs.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/253", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Tewkesbury"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Laurence Robertson"}
], "uin" : "269621"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134892", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1134892/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The areas for the test and learn phase for teaching school hubs were chosen to test a variety of areas, for example, rural, coastal, urban or areas of high deprivation. This was done to test how the teaching school hub model will work in different contexts, prior to a decision being made about national roll out. There is one test and learn area in each regional schools commissioner region. In most cases, the area defined will cover whole local authority districts, aggregating to cover 200 to 300 schools.<\/p> The Department has published a prospectus which includes the names of the local authority districts in each region covered by the initiative. The prospectus can be found here:<\/p>