Welcome to the final edition of the teacher development Ofsted Update for 2022. We hope that you are looking forward to some well-deserved rest over the festive period.
ECF and NPQ Updates
ECF and NPQ pilot inspections
During the autumn term, we conducted two pilot full inspections under the new early career framework (ECF) and national professional qualifications (NPQ) Ofsted framework. These inspections take an in-depth look at the quality of professional development and training offered by the lead provider, and how well leaders and managers ensure the effective delivery of the programmes.
We used these pilots to test the size of the inspection team required for a full inspection and to trial the updates we had made since the lead provider monitoring visits (LPMVs) in the summer term. This included changes to our inspection surveys and how we gather information from lead providers to ensure our inspection processes work well for everyone involved.
Inspectors spoke to delivery partners, early career teachers (ECTs), NPQ participants, school leaders and mentors to collect evidence as part of these pilots. Feedback from the two lead providers that volunteered to take part was very positive. They said that the experience was productive and collaborative. We would like to thank them for taking part, and their delivery partners for engaging with us throughout the process.
Following the pilots, we have also made some further tweaks to our inspection handbook and some inspection processes based on feedback from these pilots, in addition to those made following the LPMVs in the summer term. These changes are outlined below.
Updates to the ECF and NPQ handbook
Our evaluation of the feedback from the LPMVs, pilot inspections and engagement with the sector, we have informed some updates to our ECF and NPQ inspection handbook.
You can read more about these updates in a recent blog by Helen Matthews, Senior HMI for Teacher Development.
ECF and NPQ webinars
We are hosting a series of webinars for delivery partners, ECTs, NPQ participants, school leaders, facilitators, mentors and trainers to share information about what to expect on ECF and NPQ full inspections, which start from spring 2023. These webinars will take place on 9 and 14 December.
Invites have been sent to relevant stakeholders via their lead provider, but you can also request to attend by emailing ECFNPQ@ofsted.gov.uk. We will also be recording the webinars and will send all lead providers a link of the recording after each session to distribute to their networks.
ITE Updates
ITE official statistics
On 29 November, we published the official statistics for ITE. The statistics detail both the inspection outcomes for ITE in the 2021-22 academic year and the most recent ITE inspections for all providers.
To accompany the publication of the official statistics, we also published a blog outlining our concerns about variable inspection outcomes in further education and skills ITE phase inspections. While it would be wrong to draw conclusions about the whole of the further education (FE) and skills ITE sector from this small sample of inspections, it is worrying that in this inspection cycle, nearly two thirds of FE and skills ITE providers inspected have received an overall judgement of requires improvement or inadequate. The blog outlines some common weaknesses in providers we’ve judged to be less than good.
ITE accreditation process and impact on inspection
Following the announcement of the results of Department for Education’s (DfE) ITT accreditation process, we have been considering the implications for our inspections. We will provide a further update in the new year.
Teacher Development Ofsted inspector recruitment
If you are interested in applying to become an Ofsted inspector in teacher development, please register your interest on our website.
Our next Teacher Development newsletter will be published in the new year.