Training & Development Agency (TDA)

Last updated: 20 July 2006

The Training & Development Agency (TDA) was set up by the Education Act 2005. The TDA's principle aim is to secure an effective school workforce that improves children's life chances.

In particular the TDA will focus, with its partners, on ensuring that schools can:

Recruit good-quality new people to their workforce, especially well-trained newly qualified teachers (NQTs)
Readily obtain relevant and effective training for all their staff
Secure high-quality advice and guidance on developing and deploying their staff effectively

The TDA website provides details of Government initiatives to improve teacher training, including:

More flexible postgraduate courses for ITT
National skills tests for trainee teachers
Strengthening the assessment of individual trainee teachers for qualified teacher status (QTS)
New pre- and in-course study provision for trainee teachers.

Teaching: High status, high standards
Qualifying to teach sets out the requirements for all courses in ITT. Qualifying to teach came into effect in September 2002 and replaced DfEE Circular 4/98. The standards and requirements set out in the document have the same legal standing as Circular 4/98.

Graduate and Registered Teacher Programmes
The Graduate and Registered Teacher Programmes (GRTP) offer employment-based training to people aged 24 and over. While following a training plan that leads to QTS, trainees are employed by schools as qualified or unqualified teachers and paid accordingly. The programmes have proved particularly suitable routes to qualification for mature people with financial responsibilities; for people from ethnic minority groups and for people with previous experience in schools, for example, as classroom assistants and instructors. They have also helped many schools to find suitable staff for difficult to fill posts and to train them on the job.

The Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) is open to graduates with a first degree (or equivalent) who are either aged 24 or over or successfully completed recognised teacher training overseas.

The Registered Teacher Programme (RTP) is open to people who have been accepted onto a programme leading to a first degree (or equivalent qualification) and who are either aged 24 or over and have some higher education or comparable education or who have successfully completed recognised teacher training overseas. When employing an RTP trainee, schools need to work in partnership with a higher education institution, since participants must complete a degree at the same time as qualifying as a teacher. Participants in both of these programmes are required to hold mathematics, English and science standards.

Grants of up to £4500 are paid by the TDA to recommended bodies to help meet the training and assessment costs associated with GRTP trainees.

Flexible postgraduate ITT
The new flexible arrangements will enable trainees to receive high quality, individualised training that matches their needs and circumstances. The training and assessment is broken up into flexible modules allowing the trainee to negotiate the best time to complete the training. Training may be undertaken in the evening or weekends, via distance learning packages or an intensive full-time programme over a short time.

QTS skills tests
The Government has introduced national skill tests for all trainee teachers to guarantee high level skills in numeracy, literacy and information and communications technology (ICT).

The tests will assess the use of all three skills in the wider context of a teacher's professional role. Transitional arrangements were in operation for trainee teachers expecting to gain QTS between 1 May 2000 and 30 April 2001. They only needed to pass the numeracy test, as well as meeting the requirements for the induction year, before continuing to teach in a maintained or non-maintained special school.

Computerised skills tests in numeracy and literacy were introduced in February 2001 for all trainee teachers completing their training between 1 May 2001 and 30 April 2002. The tests are now part of the standards for the award of QTS and trainee teachers will need to pass both tests before they can gain QTS.

A computerised skills test in ICT was introduced in September 2001 for trainees expecting to be awarded QTS from 1 May 2002. All trainee teachers who expect to be awarded QTS from 1 May 2002 onwards will need to pass the three skills tests in numeracy, literacy and ICT.

All trainees now have unlimited opportunities to pass the skill tests.

Strengthening QTS assessment
From September 2001 onwards, new procedures will be implemented to strengthen the assessment of individual trainees for QTS.

Pre-and in-course study support
All trainees need to have, by the end of their training, a secure level of knowledge and understanding of their subject(s) so they can teach effectively. In May 2000, the TDA produced a catalogue that sets out details of high quality resources in priority areas, which ITT providers and trainees may find useful in developing the knowledge required.

Main text
Legislation