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Promoting Quality in Teacher Education

DfE: FE ITE Newsletter: Autumn 2025 edition

21 October 2025

Welcome

FE ITE Newsletter: Autumn 2025 edition

Welcome to the third edition of the further education (FE) initial teacher education (ITE) newsletter from the Department for Education (DfE).

This edition focuses on FE ITE reform and the steps we are taking to improve the quality of FE ITE course content by providing curriculum guidance, informed by an expert advisory group following a call for evidence.

Please feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues in your own institution and more widely, so that we can reach all corners of the sector and all those with an interest in teacher training for FE.

If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive future editions directly, we encourage you to subscribe by emailing FE.ITEnewsletter@education.gov.uk and provide the email address that you wish to use. The DfE Personal information charter can be found here.

For all FE ITE policy queries not related to newsletter subscription (including proposed content for future editions or any feedback that you have on this newsletter), please email the department at FE.ITE@education.gov.uk.

Contents

  1. FE ITE reform: Call for Evidence
  2. FE ITE reform update
  3. Learning and Skills Teacher Trailblazer Group
  4. FE ITE bursaries: closure of AY25/26 and announcement of AY26/27
  5. Clarification on the Diploma in Teaching (FE & Skills) teaching placement hours
  6. Guidance on Effective Professional Development in 16-19 Settings

1. FE ITE reform: Call for Evidence

Those who joined the recent webinars will know that alongside the regulations we will be publishing new statutory guidance, including guidance on the curriculum content of FE ITE programmes. We are committed to making this guidance as collaborative as possible, drawing on the expertise that exists in colleges, training providers and universities who currently deliver and research FE teacher training and preparation.

To support the process of developing this guidance, we are carrying out a formal Call for Evidence. This launched on 17 October and closes on 12 December 2025. We are keen to receive responses from a wide range of individuals and organisations involved in FE teacher training and development. The Call for Evidence can be accessed at FE teacher training and development: call for evidence.

Additionally, we will also be setting up an Expert Advisory Group of representatives from providers of FE ITE programmes with a track record high-quality delivery, and other sector bodies. This group will consider the outputs from the Call for Evidence and will advise the Department on publication of FE ITE curriculum guidance ahead of the academic year 2026 to 2027. Further detail about the composition of the Expert Group will be confirmed shortly.

2. FE ITE reform update

Following on from the initial details discussed at the FE ITE reform sector webinars held in June, colleagues will note that the recent Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper formally confirmed government’s intention to reform FE ITE to raise quality standards via the embedding of evidence-based principles. This will be achieved via curriculum and delivery standards guidance, and the requirement for all providers of FE ITE courses to register with – and provide regular data to – the DfE.

We will provide a further update on these reforms in the Spring 2026 edition of this newsletter.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper also announced government’s intention to work with the sector to review how professional status for FE teachers is achieved, awarded and maintained, and how professional status can better align with our wider ITE and professional development reforms. The form, process and timings for the review will be confirmed in due course. We have been working closely with the ITE and FE sectors as we’ve implemented our ITE reform programme; we expect to continue that close collaboration – both through existing and new channels – as we take forward the next phase of work.

3. Learning and Skills Teacher Trailblazer Group

Trailblazer groups are the lifeblood of apprenticeships, bringing together employers to develop high quality occupational standards. The Learning and Skills group are responsible for the development and updating of the Level 5 Learning and Skills Teacher (LST) standard, the Level 4 Learning and Skills Mentor and the Level 3 Learning and Skills Assessor standard. The group has a key role in the ITE system, as the LST is the foundation of all recognised further education teacher training courses.

The group is keen to continue to support the development of a high-quality FE system, ensuring that those that support, teach, assess and develop technical and vocational qualifications and apprenticeships have the right knowledge and skills in place and it is at the point where it wants to look at where it can best add value to the FE ITE system. The group is looking for new members to join to be part of the next phase of the journey, to help to focus on what is needed for FE employers and to make sure that they have the right people to carry on improving the ITE system. If your organisation is interested and you want to nominate an individual to join, please contact Katy Hensby at katyhensby@southdevon.ac.uk, Chair of the group.

4. FE ITE bursaries: closure of AY25/26 and announcement of AY26/27

As of 18 September 2025, all funding for FE ITE bursaries for the academic year 2025 to 2026 has been allocated. Providers were invited to submit bursary applications for eligible candidates until the application window closed on 1 October at 5pm, with all applications held on a waiting list. The ITT Funding Team will notify providers individually of the outcome of their waiting list applications as soon as possible. As the deadline has now passed, it is not possible to consider any new applications for the waiting list.

We are delighted to confirm that the FE ITE pre-service bursaries programme will be available in academic year 2026/2027; subject eligibility will be the same as this year, and values will be £31,000 for STEM subjects, £15,000 for SEND and £10,000 for English. We hope that this early confirmation of the programme will allow providers to recruit more high-quality candidates onto FE ITE programmes. Further detail of when the scheme will open for applications will be confirmed in due course.

Please be aware that this relates exclusively to the bursary programme for FE ITE and does not apply to any bursary programmes for teacher training in schools.

Should you have any questions about this update, or queries relating to the processing of applications already submitted for AY25/26, please contact the team at ITT.FUNDING@education.gov.uk.

5. Clarification on the Diploma in Teaching (FE & Skills) teaching placement hours

The May 2025 edition of this newsletter included an update on the Diploma in Teaching (FE & Skills) (DiT), and modifications to the online teaching requirement.

The department received a number of pieces of correspondence in the summer term and is happy to share the points of clarification provided on the requirements for teaching and placement in the DiT, for the benefit of the sector as a whole:

  • the DiT requires a minimum of 250 hours placement
  • the minimum of 250 hours must be spread across at least two placements. A second placement must be of at least 20 hours’ duration and should, where possible, take place in a different provider to the main placement.
  • of the total (minimum) 250 placement hours, at least 150 must be teaching practice (this is a floor, not a ceiling).
  • of the 150 hours teaching practice, at least 100 hours must be taught in the trainee’s main subject (again, this is a floor, not a ceiling).
  • a maximum of 50 teaching hours, contributing to the total (minimum) 150 teaching hours can be delivered in a subject other than the trainee’s main subject. This is not compulsory – and the full (minimum) 150 hours could be delivered in the trainee’s main subject.
  • the only change that has been made to the placement requirements in the DiT framework (following sector feedback) has been to remove the original requirement for a minimum of 20 hours’ online/remote teaching. This does NOT impact on the total placement/teaching hours outlined in bullets 1 to 5, or to any minima/maxima previously set; these remain unchanged.
  • the minimum of 20 hours required for a second placement need not be teaching hours but can include other types of professional practice relevant to the wider responsibilities of a teacher.

If you have any queries relating to this, please contact the team at FE.ITE@education.gov.uk.

6. Guidance on Effective Professional Development in 16-19 Settings

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recently published its new guidance for 16–19 professional development as an online tool. This is the first guidance report tailored to general FE and sixth form colleges, as well as school-based sixth forms that is focused on effective professional development.

The EEF report is based on evidence from hundreds of research studies and extensive engagement with teachers and professional development leads across the sector and offers three clear recommendations and practical tools to help settings plan and deliver impactful professional development.