Teacher and leader development

The Government today announced that the new National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) will be led by the School-Led Development Trust (SLDT), a charity founded by four of England’s leading school trusts.

The NIoT will open in September and be the first of its kind in England. It will evolve teacher and leader development up and down the country by using its own cutting-edge research on best practice to inform the design and delivery of its high-quality professional development programmes.

It will be:
• A truly school-led organisation. The NIoT will be run by schools for schools. Programme participants will have an experience that is school-based with programme design and delivery benefitting from the input of current practitioners – teachers, senior leaders, headteachers and executive leaders– who understand the demands of teaching workloads.
• A best practice incubator, which will find, interpret, generate and communicate research, applying the insights to the design and delivery of professional development programmes.
• A substantial investment in teacher and leader training research in England. The NIoT will make its research available for free to all teacher training providers so that it can be applied to improve teacher development across the country.
• An impact-focused organisation. Its unique position gives the NIoT the opportunity to link data on teacher and leader development with data sets on pupil achievement, enabling it to see what truly makes an impact on children’s outcomes. This is something not done anywhere in the world outside North America.
• Once Degree awarding powers are granted, it will become the only university in the UK solely focused on the development of teachers and school leaders combining academic awards with outstanding practice in schools.
• A key provider of the full “golden thread” of qualifications throughout teachers’, school leaders’ and system leaders’ careers, setting exemplary standards in the delivery of courses from initial teacher training onwards (ITT, ECF, NPQs and NLE). This will mean participants seamlessly progress from one programme to the next throughout their professional lives.

Drive up standards

Taken together, the NIoT’s work in research and delivery will further drive up standards across the English education system for the benefit of teachers and leaders up and down the country – and therefore for children and young people.

Training will be delivered through four regional campuses. Each will be supported by one of the four Trusts that make up the SLDT – the Harris Federation, Outwood Grange Academies Trust, Oasis Community Learning and Star Academies. Critical to the design and delivery of the programmes will be the regional ‘Associate Colleges’, school groups with strong track records and the capacity and expertise required to deepen and extend the impact of the NIoT. Alongside its rich and diverse network of schools, the NIoT is drawing in expertise from a range of organisations including Newcastle University. Together these partners will extend the reach of the NIoT so that teachers in areas that serve some of the most disadvantaged communities can access its offer. 

Nadhim Zahawi, the Secretary of State for Education, said:

“A child’s teacher is the single most important factor in the quality of their education, and my mission is to ensure that every single child in this country – wherever they live – is taught by an excellent teacher.

“Excellent teachers need excellent training, which is why our first of its kind National Institute of Teaching is going to be so important. The Institute is going to revolutionise the way teachers and school leaders receive training in this country, with cutting edge research alongside training delivered by national experts, and I’m thrilled that School Led Development Trust will oversee this exciting new project.”

Nurturing talent

Melanie Renowden, the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Teaching, said:

“The National Institute of Teaching is uniquely positioned to create a bridge between evidence and education practice. As a school-led consortium, we are perfectly equipped to translate evidence on best practice into action that can be implemented in schools up and down the country.

“It is not just that we know schools and work well with schools. Our trusts and our partners are delivering education excellence in classrooms across England, often in communities that have the toughest of deals, where our work has the potential to make the biggest difference. We will investigate what has been working, codify what we learn and share it across the school system.

“We are looking forward to the National Institute of Teaching playing a central role in nurturing the talents of teachers and leaders at all stages of their careers, so they can provide children and young people with the world-class education they deserve.”

Sir Dan Moynihan, the Chair of the SLDT and Chief Executive Officer of The Harris Federation, said:

“Our four trusts – Harris Federation, Oasis Community Learning, Outwood Grange and Star Academies – combine outstanding track records on the frontline of schools across England with extensive on-the-ground expertise in school-led teacher development. A large range of partner school trusts have already signed up to deliver our programmes, as well as a series of external expert organisations who can contribute to our offer. Assembling specialist expertise and collaborating with the sector will be key to the success of the NIoT. The world-class teacher development that results from this new organisation will enable and inspire the nation’s school workforce to give all children the high-quality education they need and deserve.”

The four campuses will be arranged as follows:
• The North West Campus supported by Star Academies
• The North East Campus supported by Outwood Grange Academies Trust
• The London & South East Campus supported by the Harris Federation
• The Midlands & South West Campus supported by Oasis Community Learning

Associate Colleges and delivery partners are:
• Bright Futures Educational trust
• David Ross Education Trust
• East Midlands Education Trust
• Education South West
• Flying High Trust (Inspiring Leaders)
• Future Academies
• Inspiration Trust
• North East Learning Trust
• Sea View Trust
• South Farnham Educational Trust
• Trinity MAT
• Unity Schools Partnership
The specialist partners include:
• ANS
• Eden Academy Trust
• Hable
• Evidence Based Education
• Microsoft
• National Teacher Accreditation
• Place2Be
• Research Ed
• Teacher Tapp
• Teach First
• The Difference
• Tom Bennett
• Newcastle University
• University of Birmingham

Press release adapted with thanks to the National Institute of Teaching.