Recommendation 16

HM Government Accepted

Subject to Parliament, as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, it is proposed that new teachers will need to hold or be working towards QTS. They will also need to complete a statutory induction period. New teachers are entitled to at least 3 years of structured training, support and professional development for new teachers. Underpinning this is the ITT Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework (ECF), ensuring that new teachers will benefit from at least 3 years of evidence-based training, across ITT and into their induction. The government does not prescribe the curriculum of ITT courses. It is for accredited ITT providers to incorporate the Core Content Framework into a curriculum appropriate to the needs of trainees and for the subject, phase and age range that the trainees will be teaching. For some trainees this may include content on financial literacy. The ECF has been designed to support early career teacher development in 5 core areas–behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours. While the ECF underpins what all early career teachers should learn, it is not a curriculum. Training providers must design a programme that incorporates the ECF in full and should ensure that content is appropriate for the context in which the early career teacher is working. It is incumbent on providers to determine the full curriculum, including how to ensure coverage of all framework statements within the training time available. All teachers, including trainees, are required to meet the Teachers’ Standards and their training and development should support them to do this. These include Teacher Standard 1, which requires teachers to set goals that stretch and challenge young people of all backgrounds and abilities; and Standard 5, which requires teachers to adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils. In general, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements, and the government has committed to introducing a Teacher Training Entitlement which would support teachers to access more, high-quality CPD across a range of topics. The Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development18, which was developed by an expert group of headteachers, teachers and academics, supports teachers and headteachers to understand what makes professional development effective and how to make choices to prioritise and enable high-quality professional development. The suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) is based on the best available evidence of what works, providing access to high-quality in-role training and support in the areas that matter most to teaching and learning. They provide the knowledge and skills needed for teachers and leaders to develop their schools and improve pupil outcomes across a range of areas. The suite of NPQs includes an NPQ for Leading Primary Maths. Participants will learn how to lead colleagues, including their leadership team, to embed mastery approaches to teaching maths across a school, year group, key stage or phase. NPQs are not designed to provide all of the professional development a teacher can access throughout their career. They can, and should, be supplemented by a variety of subject-specific professional development, including that which is provided by schools, trusts, subject associations, charities, and other private training organisations. However, we know that evidence is not static and insights evolve. Therefore, we will establish a process for reviewing the existing NPQ suite, to ensure the qualifications continue to be based on the latest evidence and best-practice of what works for teaching and learning. The government welcomes the Committee’s acknowledgement of the Money and Pensions Service’s “Improving Financial Wellbeing through Teacher and Practitioner Training and Targeted Provision” programme, launched in October 2022. Through this £1.1 million grant programme, the Money and Pensions Service funded 7 organisations to develop and test approaches to supporting teachers, and practitioners working with children and young people in vulnerable circumstances, to deliver financial education. The programme reached over 2,400 teachers, 1,000 practitioners and approximately 54,000 children and young people. An evaluation19 of the programme was published in November 2024 and found that: • Financial education training resulted in positive outcomes for teachers and practitioners including improved confidence, skills, motivation and knowledge, and increased their understanding of the importance of financial education. • Positive outcomes for children and young people included an observed increase in financial knowledge and literacy, and an increase in confidence using financial knowledge. • The evaluation highlighted successful strategies to engage school staff and practiti