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Contents

  1. Background3
  1. University of Cumbria Partnership Visions and Values 3
  1. Equal Opportunities4
  1. Safeguarding and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check4
  1. QA of QTS Direct Assessment Only Route 5
  1. Overview of QTS Direct Assessment Only Route 6
  1. Structure of QTS Direct Assessment Only Route 7

Roles and responsibilities

  1. Recruitment and Selection8
  1. Preparation for Initial Assessment Interview 9
  1. Initial Assessment Interview 10
  1. Assessed Practice 11
  1. QTS Review Meeting 12
  1. Quality Assurance 13
  1. The Partnership Agreement14

1.Background

The University of Cumbria believes that the best model for producing high quality teachers is based on working in partnership with schools. This partnership relies on the involvement of school based professionals in the selection and assessment of candidates for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

The continuing improvement of pupil attainment and the well-being of children are at the heart of this Partnership, and inform all aspects of the assessment of candidates to become qualified teachers.

The Partnership has a commitment to ensuring candidates are provided with a fair and accurate assessment and with feedback to promote further professional development. This outcome is achieved through the distinctive roles and responsibilities and close working relationship between University of Cumbria tutors and school mentors during the assessment process.

The University of Cumbria is an accredited ITE provider that is judged by Ofsted as “Good” at the last inspection, so therefore, is compliant in offering QTS through the Assessment Only (AO) route and is a registered provider of the AO route for Early Years, Primary, Middle, Prep and Secondary candidates.

AO candidates successfully completing the assessment attain QTS but no other qualifications. Institutional accreditation has been granted by the NCTL.

School-based assessment will be undertaken by the university tutor in partnership with the named mentor in school.

2.Partnership

Our Mission - ‘Aspire, Achieve, Inspire’

The University of Cumbria’s Institute of Education aims to be an outstanding provider of diverse and inclusive education. We aim to be at the forefront of developing education professionals for the 21st century. Collaboration is at the heart of all our provision. Our vision for our programmes is to deliver “Aspirational training to achieve inspirational teachers with pupils’ learning and well-being at the heart of our partnership.” The same vision and principles underpin our approach to the QTS Direct Assessment Only programme.

Our key Principles - Our approach is underpinned by five key principles:

  • Collaboration to strengthen professional learning communities to facilitate and support knowledge exchange
  • Lifelong learning to provide high quality programmes for learners and teachers within a range of educational settings
  • Inquiry to be seen as a source of impact and expertise on inquiry based practice within and beyond education settings
  • Impact to make a strong contribution to education excellence through our teaching, research, consultancy and knowledge exchange activity
  • Innovation through developing with our partners creative, innovative and confident education professionals who can implement new approaches to education based on research and enquiry

Our values - Our actions reflect our core values of:

  • Respect by taking pride in being a community of equals where people know and support one another
  • Professionalism by being a community of professionals pursuing excellence through intellectual enquiry and practical application
  • Aspiration by aspiring to achieve for our students, staff and communities
  • Integrity:by believing in what we are trying to achieve, and through the way we work and collective responsibility, we make a positive impact in our communities

3.Equal opportunities

The University of Cumbria is committed to creating an environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly regardless of gender, disability, ethnic origin and culture, gender re-assignment and transgender, religion or belief (or a lack of belief), sexual orientation, marital status/civil partnership, age, nationality or pregnancy and maternity.

The University is committed to the positive promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion and the establishment of a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion which goes beyond simple compliance with legislation. University of Cumbria partnership provision will challenge all forms of discrimination, bullying and harassment and schools must comply with the Equality Act (2010).

All members of the partnership must ensure that their candidate(s) are working with an emphasis on promoting equality of opportunity, challenging stereotypes, opposing prejudice and respecting individuals regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, class, religion, marital status or sexual orientation.

The school must have a written public interest disclosure procedure (whistle-blowers’ procedure) to deal with concerns of AO candidates and staff.

4.Safeguarding and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

AO candidates are required to submit their DBS reference numbers to University of Cumbria before commencement on the AO route. The University of Cumbria expects the sponsoring school to have a current DBS check for any Assessment Only candidate who is working in their school. With Assessment Only candidates, this is the responsibility of the school, not the university. DBS numbers must be made available for the university to verify.

•University policies

The Institute of Education is governed by the policies and procedures of the University of Cumbria. The following is a list of the policies and procedures that inform the way the Institute conducts its work. The URL below links to the University’s website where the policies can be read in full. These policies are subject to change.

  • Equality
  • Data Protection
  • Health and Safety

•Misconduct

Head Teachers/Principals must have processes in place to ensure that candidates are able to be removed from or leave the QTS Direct Assessment Only programme as a result of professional misconduct.

•QA of Assessment Only Partner Schools

Partner schools must demonstrate that they have the capacity to undertake their assessment responsibilities through the application paperwork and Partnership Agreement document.

Where a school has serious weakness, or is in special measures, it may still be possible to carry out an assessment, especially if the improvements to be made do not affect the subject or age range in which the candidate is being assessed. The University will need to be confident that the candidate will not be disadvantaged by being assessed in the school and that the situation is kept under close review.

If a school is unsuitable, does not have the capacity, or does not fulfil its obligations to the assessment process theschool will be deregistered as a partner. In such cases partnership arrangements would need to be made with a different sponsoring school, as appropriate.

•QA of QTS Direct Assessment Only Route

The University of Cumbria Partnership is committed to the pursuit of excellence and has developed appropriate structures and roles to monitor and evaluate the quality of the Assessment Only candidate’s experience, paying attention particularly to:

  • Candidates’ entitlement to equivalent assessment experiences in different schools
  • Consistent application of assessment criteria and consistent judgements about candidates’ evidence
  • Candidates, mentors and tutors being involved in the evaluation process. Feedback from the evaluation process is shared via the VLE
  • The Education Partnership Stakeholder Group receiving issues arising from the evaluation process on an annual basis
  • The aim of the QA process to support and secure better outcomes for candidates by making improvements to the assessment process

Moderation and QA Processes

There are several layers of moderation and QA in the QTS Direct Assessment Only process to ensure accurate and efficient assessments:

  1. The assessment is made in partnership by the school mentor and university tutor who work together throughout the whole process
  2. The school mentor’s judgements are often moderated by additional in-school input, e.g. by professional or subject/ age range mentors
  3. The university tutor is an experienced assessor of QTS standards who will have worked with mentors in many partnership schools
  4. E-portfolios will be moderated to support consistency and accuracy, e.g. by a second university tutor and/or a standardisation panel and/or a subject or age-range specialist
  5. Each year an External Examiner scrutinises the quality of this route and provides a written report. This can be viewed on the PebblePad VLE. The External Examiner also visits a sample of candidates in schools and will speak to candidates and mentors
  6. Partnership and Stakeholder groups ensure comparability between the assessments made on the AO route and other routes to QTS
  7. From time to time Ofsted inspectors will also scrutinise the quality of the programme and its assessments and provide a public written report
  8. Feedback and evaluations are used to constantly review the effectiveness of the route and to bring about improvements. This is scrutinised by the Partnership Stakeholder Group and a copy of the route’s annual review is available on the VLE.

•Organisation and Management of the Partnership

ForPrimary and Secondary partnerships the QTS Direct Assessment Only route is managed, supported and overseen by differentnamed Programme Leaders. The Programme Leaders allocate and introduce school partners to their university tutors who are responsible for working together with the schools to carry out the assessments. The Programme Leaders report directly to their representative at the Partnership Stakeholders Group. All school based mentors at the Stakeholder Group have Assessment Only included in their remit and are able to directly raise and discuss assessment only management issues.

All school mentors in assessment only partner schools provide feedback on the route and this contributes to an annual evaluatory review. A report on this is made annually to the Stakeholder Group and is made available to candidates on the VLE.

•Overview of the QTS Direct Assessment Only Route

The unique feature of this programme is the ‘assessment only’ characteristic. The University of Cumbria does not provide any training. This route is designed for candidates who can demonstrate that they are able to fully meet all of the Teachers’ Standards without the need for further training.

  • All candidates on the Assessment Only Route must already have substantial experience of whole class planning, teaching, assessment, reporting etc. It is likely that they will have participated in CPD, Inset and in-house professional development activities as part of their current role in school. Candidates will have taught for at least two years, in order to demonstrate the required ‘substantial experience’.
  • All candidates on the Assessment Only Route must have experience of teaching in two different settings. If a candidate has only experience of teaching in one school, a teaching placement must be completed in another setting beforehand. This placement is independently arranged by the schools involved. The placement must involve the candidate in whole class planning, teaching and assessment. This experience of teaching in a second setting typically lasts 20 days, which may take place in a ‘block’ or spread out over a term or more.
  • All candidates on the Assessment Only Route must be supported by a suitably qualified and experienced mentor in school. The school mentor and university tutor will work in partnership to assess the candidate. The school’s Head Teacher/Principal is required to give permission and to sign a partnership agreement which supports the assessment process.

Structure of the QTS Direct Assessment Only Programme:

The programme is divided into three phases:

Phase 1- Preparation for Initial Assessment: - Once registered, candidates will develop an e-portfolio of evidence drawing on current and previous teaching experience in preparation for the Initial Assessment Interview. The e-portfolio will provide evidence of meeting all aspects of the Teachers’ Standards and will draw on evidence from at least two age ranges.

Phase 2 - Initial Assessment Interview: - The university tutor will visit the candidate’s school to carry out the interview alongside the mentor in school. The process will include lesson observation, a review of the candidate’s e-portfolio of evidence and subject knowledge audit, a brief presentation, literacy audit and professional discussion. The Initial Assessment Interview will normally lead to a recommendation that the candidate is ready to progress to the 4-week Assessed Practice. The recommendation will include any appropriate professional development targets for the candidate to address during the Assessed Practice.

Phase 3 - Assessed Practice: - A 4-week assessed teaching practice will be undertaken in the candidate’s sponsoring school. The Assessed Practice must take place within a time frame of three months from the date of the Initial Assessment Interview. Candidates will continue to add evidence to their e-portfolio and will maintain detailed evidence of planning, assessment and evaluation. Weekly Lesson observations with feedback will also be required. Towards the end of the Assessed Practice, the candidate’s university tutor will join the mentor to observe the candidate teach, scrutinise the Assessed Practice documentation and discuss the candidate’s progress in the QTS Review Meeting. If candidates are distant, the second observed lesson may be filmed and sent to the university tutor and discussions take place by telephone.

Upon successful completion of the assessment the Programme Leader will recommend the candidate for the award of QTS at the university’s Assessment Board. The award will be then, be formally recorded in the university’s records and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) will be notified. The NCTL then formally registers the candidate as a qualified teacher.

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5.Roles and Responsibilities

Recruitment and Selection
University of Cumbria / Head Teacher/Principal / Mentor / Candidate
Work together with partners to contribute to the selection of suitable candidates for the AO route
Liaise with the Department of Education, Ofsted, and the National College for Teaching and Leadership
Administer and support recruitment, ensuring that entry requirements ensure that anyone admitted to the AO route is suitable to become a teacher
Check all applicants have taken part in a rigorous selection process designed to assess their suitability to teach and that they have enough evidence to meet all the standards for QTS already without further training
Check that all entrants hold the relevant qualifications and all relevant checks have taken place
Check that all entrants have passed the professional Skills Tests prior to entry
Verify evidence that candidates have taught in at least two schools prior to application and that candidates have taught for at least two years
Answer queries and liaise with interested parties / Check applicants have taken part in a rigorous selection process. Check application paperwork is accurate and write a reference for the applicant
Confirm school’s agreement to sponsor assessment of AO candidate
Confirm that the school is in a position to carry out the assessment
Ensure that the school has taken responsibility for ensuring DBS clearance and safeguarding training of their AO candidates
During the assessment the AO candidate is under the school control and therefore the statutory duty of care and consequent liabilities rest with the sponsoring school. The University of Cumbria assumes that the school will have Employer Liability and Public Liability insurance in place for the duration of the assessment process
All Health and Safety rules and regulations in the sponsoring school should be clear to the candidate, including any training in specific health and safety regulations and policies. University of Cumbria does not take any responsibility for the health and safety of any school’s employees or candidates / Work together with partners to contribute to the selection of suitable candidates for the AO route
Check applicants have taken part in a rigorous selection process designed to assess their suitability to teach and that they have enough evidence to meet all the standards for QTS already without further training
Provide information about their experience as a mentor
May be required to write a reference for the applicant to support the assessment for the award of QTS / Check that they meet eligibility criteria; i.e. have taught whole classesin at least two schools and have taught for at least two years and across two age ranges
Check that they have sufficient evidence to meet all the standards in all relevant age ranges before they apply
Co-ordinate application paperwork
Preparation for Initial Assessment Interview
University of Cumbria / Head Teacher/Principal / Mentor / Candidate
Provide Student Support Services and Resources as identified in the AO Course Handbook
Provide partnership mentor support in school via the university tutor and/or online resources
Provide AO Handbook and standards-related assessment materials, schedules and frameworks to ensure consistency of assessment
Provide guidance on arranging the Initial Assessment Interview in school
Manage introduction of the university tutor and liaise with mentor and candidate to arrange Initial Assessment Interview / Support any reasonable arrangements to support candidate’s preparation for QTS assessment
Ensure mentoring responsibilities are appropriately recognised and supported by the school and included in the mentor’s own performance management
To oversee the implementation of any agreed support regarding the assessment
To ensure that support will fulfil expectations outlined in the AO Handbook over the duration of the assessment period / Read Handbook and return the mentor information document to the university
Liaise as appropriate with other age range or subject-specific mentors in school
Help candidate to audit subject knowledge, whole class teaching experiences, identify any gaps in relation to the Teachers’ Standards, identify strengths and targets to bring to the Initial Assessment Interview