James Cleverly, Rt. Hon. Secretary of State for Education: Letter to UCET on Market Review stage 2 (22nd August 2022)
22 August 2022
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The Rt Hon. James Cleverly MP
Secretary of State
Sanctuary Buildings Great Smith Street Westminster London SWIP 3BT
James Noble-Rogers
Executive Director
Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET)
By email: i.noble-rogers@ucet.ac.uk
22 August 2022
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Thank you for your letter of 6 July, addressed to the former Secretary of
State, regarding the reforms to initial teacher training (ITT).
I welcome the engagement that UCET has had with my department
throughout the ITT Market Review process: our continued close
cooperation will be crucial to achieving our shared aim of a world-class
system of teacher training. I understand, however, that your members are
concerned about the potential impact of the reforms on teacher supply
and the involvement of higher education Institutions (HEIs) in ITT.
As you will be aware, safeguarding teacher supply has been and will
continue to be a priority for my department. My officials are currently
planning how best to resolve any potential deficits in ITT provision
following the conclusion of the accreditation process. I hope that you will
continue to engage with them so that we can better understand how best
to help your members at that time.
Regarding the involvement of HEIs in ITT, I would like to reiterate the
point that former Minister Walker made in his last letter to you, specifically
that the government wants as many high-quality ITT providers in the
reformed market as possible. I was pleased to have been informed that all
of the HEls that were not accredited in round one have re-applied in round
two. I would like to thank you for supporting your members in re-applying.
My department will continue to work constructively with the ITT sector as
we prepare for 2024. Following the sector consultation last summer, we
made several key amendments to the recommendations set out in the ITT
Market Review report. We have also engaged with your members to
revise the stage 2 guidance in order to clarify the academic freedom
providers will have to develop their course beyond the Core Content
Framework.
I know that my officials are continuing to work with your members to
provide further clarification on the next stage and I look forward to our
continued working together in the future.
Thank you for writing on this important matter.
Yours sincerely,
The Rt Hon.
Secretary of State for Education