High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme RFx 122

The Department for Education’s (DfE) vision is for a highly educated society in which opportunity is more equal for children and young people, no matter what their background or family circumstances. This investment will contribute to the achievement of the DfE system goal: ‘Educational excellence, everywhere’ by 2020.

It will do this by contributing towards two DfE delivery priorities: ‘improve recruitment by attracting and training new highly-skilled teachers’ and to ‘strengthen school leadership… with a particular focus on a sufficient supply of leaders for our toughest areas’. The new contract This contract will see government investment in the recruitment and training (in 2 cohorts) up to 4,200 new teachers to work in schools with low attaining pupils and/or high numbers of disadvantaged pupils.

This is to help these schools close the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Trainees will be employed as unqualified teachers and would begin working in schools in September 2017 and 2018 in the cohorts in the initial term of the contract.

They will benefit from one year’s initial teacher training, then a second year employed as a newly qualified teacher. The 2017 cohort will then complete by July 2019; and the 2018 cohort by July 2020.

Contract exit activity is expected to take until October 2020. Subject to satisfactory contractor performance; ministerial agreement; and availability of funding, there will be an option to extend the contract to deliver a further two cohorts (of up to 5,000 new teachers).

This extension, would be into a new spending review period and will not be confirmed until 2018. Trainees will be employed as unqualified teachers and would begin working in schools in September 2019 and 2020 in the cohorts in the additional term.

They will benefit from one year’s initial teacher training, then a second year employed as a newly qualified teacher. The 2019 cohort will then complete by July 2021; and the 2020 cohort by July 2022.

Contract exit activity would be expected to take until October 2022. The NCTL, an executive agency of the DfE, is seeking one national provider (or consortium) to: • Recruit high quality graduates and career changers who have the potential to be highly skilled teachers and leaders and who would otherwise be unlikely to join the profession. • Train them to be highly skilled teachers and emerging leaders in primary and secondary schools with low attaining pupils and/or high numbers of disadvantaged pupils.

The places will be in England. Some places will be in Early Years settings.