New recruitment rules aim to create competition amongst training providers

This change comes amid growing concerns of a teacher shortage and is designed to give providers ’the freedom and flexibility’ to recruit the trainees that they need. Schools who provide training via the School Direct route, as well Universities offering PGCEs, will now have to register to be a training provider. Registrations open on 23 June and close on 10 July.
    
Providers will be able to recruit until they meet a ‘threshold’, details of which are expected to be announced in September. There will still be a national limit in each subject, but providers will be able to recruit as many trainees as they wish until this is met. They will be advised via email when the threshold is close or when a course has been frozen due to the threshold being met.
    
The NCTL has said it still retains ‘the right to modify or amend the approach we take to the registration of courses or allocation of places for future years’, and that it will act to prevent significant geographical variation.
    
Chris Husbands, director of the Institute of Education, said: “The immediate likelihood is the further expansion, despite the challenges, of School Direct.
    
“The recent hints are that school and school group bidding for School Direct places for 2016-2017 will account for the vast majority of (initial teacher education), with very loose regional monitoring of demand.”
    
Charlie Taylor, CEO of the NCTL, said that the changes had been made in response to feedback suggesting the process was too complicated, and reaffirmed the that they are designed to give more flexibility to providers.
    
He said: ”We have been listening to your feedback and next year we want to give you the freedom and flexibility to recruit the trainees that you need. We know that you have often found our allocations process complicated and you have been frustrated when you have not received the number of places you asked for.
    
“We have therefore simplified the process for the distribution of ITT places, and for the 2016 to 2017 academic year we will not be making direct allocations. Instead, we will be giving you the chance to recruit up to the number of trainees required nationally within a set of clear controls.”
    
Teach First will not be effected by the new recruitment rules and will be managed separately, as will early years initial teacher training courses and small-scale programmes such as Troops to Teachers.

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