Each year some 35,000 people start training for qualified teacher status. The Department for Education aims to assure the supply of new teachers, to raise the quality of teaching and to give teachers and head teachers greater professional autonomy and responsibility over recruitment and training. Government spends approximately £700 million a year training new teachers.
The NAO report examines whether the Department’s arrangements to train new teachers are value for money. It considers whether the system produces sufficient numbers of new teachers of the right quality for schools and whether the Department has effective oversight of the market of initial teacher training providers.
The Public Accounts Committee inquiry addresses the issues raised in the report. The Committee speaks to a range of witnesses to formulate a report to put to the department.