Assessment Only QTS Frequently Asked Questions

It is intended for experienced teachers who already meet the Teachers’ Standards and do not require additional training

Yes, subject to provider requirements and eligibility criteria. We offer an International Assessment Only route to QTS

Yes. In the case of part-time working, the current teaching load would need to cover at least 60% of the week, so 3 full days a week minimum.We would need to have the full equivalent of 6 weeks (30 days+) in an alternate setting.Similarly, the minimum 2 years FTE will need to be met, so if you have been working 3 days all the way through your unqualified teacher experience (therefore only 3/5 of FTE), you would need to have completed the extra 2/5 time - so a minimum of 3 years and 1 term teaching 3 days a week.Once those requirements are met and you are granted entry to the programme, we would not extend the duration of the programme but keep it at 12 weeks.

Yes, you can but we would require further details and information from you before you submit an application to decide on your eligibility. For those who are working in a SEND school setting we would need to review and obtain further information about subject specialisms (for Secondary applicants) as this is not a subject in and of itself and generally covers all subjects. This may present some difficulties in meeting the requirements for Teachers' Standard 3 - due to not having a specific subject specialism.

If your main teaching role is in a SEND school then we require that you have past teaching experience in a mainstream school or that you complete your second, alternate, 6-week teaching experience requirement in a mainstream school.

For College or Further Education Scenarios for AO, unfortunately, we are unable to consider current employment in a college setting for this programme. The reason being that there would be issues with demonstrating the required subject knowledge across relevant age phases.There would be issues around your teaching post being able to give opportunity to meet all the Teachers’ Standards required for entry onto the programme.

Yes, you can, if you are currently teaching in a secondary school setting and this is your main employment setting. We can consider FE teaching as previous experience depending on the age phase and subject that was taught.

Yes, you can. We offer an International Assessment Only route to QTS. You would need to meet the required requirements as detailed on our webpages

Please note the following information below about types of schools:

It is not a requirement that the school the candidate is employed at teaches the British National Curriculum. We have no specific requirements for the type of school the placement must be undertaken in but please note the following information.

It is important that the candidate has a suitably qualified Mentor and that the context of their school allows them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards. If a candidate teaches in a school which strictly prescribes teaching methods this may make meeting the Teachers’ Standards challenging. Class sizes must also be large enough to require classroom management; small group tutoring or support would not allow sufficient breadth of practice to evidence meeting the Teachers’ Standards. International schools and bilingual schools are both acceptable contexts, as are (subject to meeting the Mentor requirements) local schools teaching in English. Language centres do not qualify as a suitable context. Unlike other providers our programme is not specific to any one curriculum. We are more interested in the wider ideas around teaching rather than expecting you to demonstrate teaching specific objectives or demonstrating specific pedagogy. You should continue to teach the curriculum of your school.

It is not a requirement that the school the candidate is employed at teaches the British National Curriculum

You do not need to provide references in the context of a job reference. However, you will be asked to provide two Letters of Recommendation, one from your current employer and one from your most recent past employer using the templates that we provide during the pre-assessment phase.

As part of the pre-assessment phase, you will need to provide us with copies of your qualifications (Certificates and transcripts for both high school and university), to show that you meet the entry requirements (with translations if necessary). Should you be invited to apply you will need to provide attested copies of those qualifications. The school you are employed by will be asked to do this.

Yes, we do, we will need to do an equivalency assessment to make sure that the qualifications meet the entry requirements, it would be helpful to your assessment and application if you can provide a comparability assessment from ENIC Homepage | UK ENIC. Please be advised that for the GCSE English entry requirement it is likely that your high school qualifications will not meet this, as for most international schools English is taught as a second language. It is strongly recommended that you obtain a comparability statement from ENIC, as the report will inform you as to whether you will need to complete an equivalency test with one of the two Equivalency Testing companies that the University accepts:

Equivalency Testing | Home | GCSE equivalency testing

A Star Equivalency | GCSE Equivalency Tests & Courses

The English proficiency condition is a standard university condition for all international candidates. If English is not your native language, you will need a minimum score of 7.0 under the

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

Find out more about English language requirements at Warwick

Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate that they have recent experience teaching across consecutive Key Stages in two or more settings, including the school they are currently working in. Applicants need to have at least 2 years of teaching experience in total (at least 6 weeks (30 days), full time equivalent for the second school setting).

Applicants are required to be working as an unqualified teacher and be teaching a timetable in line with a qualified teacher. Applicants’ teaching experience needs to demonstrate that they are/have been fully responsible for whole-class teaching, planning, delivery, and assessment of classes during this time, (i.e. the applicant is the actual teacher of the class). The applicant’s post must be able to provide the applicant with the opportunity to meet all the Teachers’ Standards required and demonstrate the required subject knowledge across relevant age phases.

We ask that your experience is continuous/consecutive, although there is flexibility if an applicant has taught in 2 school settings, then stops working and moves to another school and has only been working at the new school for a short while.

In terms of experience, you should be teaching a fulltime timetable in line with a qualified teacher, which is approx. 22 hours a week (based on 5 x 1-hour lessons a day).

As part of your experience, you need to teach for a minimum of 6 weeks (30 days) in a second setting. For part-time work, you would need to complete the same time allocation so that the total time for your second placement is equal to the 30 days if completed full time. This would also apply for your main placement. Therefore if you are working part time we would be looking for a longer period of teaching in respect of your experience

Whether your private nursery experience could be considered, depends upon:

1. Whether your potential mentor has QTS themselves. The mentor in the setting must be a qualified teacher. For UK schools, the mentor will need to be an experienced teacher (with at least 3 years of teaching experience) with QTS. For independent schools in the UK, in the context where the mentor does not have QTS, then they will need to have at least 3 years of teaching experience and provide us with confirmation of this by means of a statement included in the letter of recommendation provided by the school. For international schools, in the context where the mentor does not have QTS they will need to have at least 3 years of teaching experience and provide us with confirmation of this by means of a CV.
2. The role you have undertaken during the 2 years of experience – i.e. were you in effect working as an unqualified teacher with responsibility?

In order to meet the ‘consecutive age ranges’ requirement, an applicant would need relevant KS1 experience as an unqualified teacher to complement their Early Years (Nursery/Recep) experience. This must be 2 years in total, with at least 6 weeks in a second setting.

An applicant would be asked to complete a timeline of training and employment to see if it would be appropriate to proceed further.

For an international context, it is not a requirement that the school the candidate is employed at teaches the British National Curriculum.

We have no specific requirements for the type of school where the teaching experience has taken place, but please note the following information.

It is important that the candidate has a suitably qualified Mentor and that the context of their school allows them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards. If a candidate teaches in a school which strictly prescribes teaching methods this may make meeting the Teachers’ Standards challenging. Class sizes must also be large enough to require classroom management; small group tutoring or support would not allow sufficient breadth of practice to evidence meeting the Teachers’ Standards. International schools and bilingual schools are both acceptable contexts, as are (subject to meeting the Mentor requirements) local schools teaching in English. Language centres do not qualify as a suitable context. Unlike other providers our programme is not specific to any one curriculum. We are more interested in the wider ideas around teaching rather than expecting you to demonstrate teaching specific objectives or demonstrating specific pedagogy. You should continue to teach the curriculum of your school.

An online school or training centre is not acceptable because it does not enable an applicant to fully meet all the required Teachers' Standards.

We are aware that for international schools there are roles in which English is taught as a language (EAL/ESL), and not in the context of the UK English curriculum. For applications in this area, English would come under MFL as a subject.

Please note that although you may complete the international AO programme, it is likely you would not be able to teach in the UK because English is not an MFL subject. Although, if you also teach another MFL subject as part of your timetable, you may be able to then apply to work in the UK.

For the AO Primary route, you cannot specialise in PE, Languages or Music for example, you must be teaching the full Primary Curriculum (literacy, numeracy and science etc.).

No. Your time as a TA or any other role in school other than as a teacher is not accepted against the entry criteria for the programme.

When your school completes the School Statement of Support, the details in there help theUniversity of Warwickassess the suitability of the proposed school mentor. We ask that the mentor has:

1. A minimum of 3 years of teaching experience.
2. Local or international qualified teaching certifications.
3. Up to date knowledge of teacher pedagogy and a record of outstanding teaching.
4. Experience of carrying out lesson observations.
5. An appreciation of the Teachers’ Standards as set out in the QTS/iQTS Teachers’ Standards documentation. Please find the iQTS Teachers’ Standards here.

The mentor will need to confirm that they are willing to support you and that the school will make the necessary time available, as there is the expectation that you will meet weekly with your mentor and they will need to carry out a weekly lesson observation of your teaching (10-12 times over the course of the programme). The mentor will need to complete the required documentation for the AO programme; this can be found on the Axia dashboard.

For UK schools, the mentor will need to be an experienced teacher (at least 3 years teaching experience) with QTS.

For independent schools in the UK, in the context where the mentor does not have QTS then they will need to have at least 3 years of teaching experience and provide us with confirmation of this by means of a statement included in the letter of recommendation provided by the school.

For international schools, in the context where the mentor does not have QTS they will need to have at least 3 years of teaching experience and provide us with confirmation of this by means of a CV.

To apply for the Assessment Only Route to QTS, you need to complete the stage 1 form on the ‘apply’ tab of our web page. Your school will need to complete the school declaration form and provide their letter of recommendation. Once this has been reviewed, and if assessed as eligible for the programme, you will be invited to pay the deposit. Once this has been paid, you can then submit a formal application via the University of Warwick online Postgraduate Application system.

Once your application has been received, it will be reviewed by the admissions team. If all required documentation has been provided, it will then be passed to the course lead. If the application review by the course lead is successful, you will then be contacted about arranging your initial assessment and interview.

The certificates that are provided during the admissions process, whilst they confirm that you meet the entry requirements, will not clear the required conditions because they are electronic documents. For the condition/s to be cleared, the certificates need to be attested/verified. Therefore, when you are invited to submit an application, your school will be asked to confirm they have seen the originals of the certificates (certificates and Transcripts (with translations)). The school is required to sign and date a copy of the original certificate; the signatory/signer must sign with their name and title, and state that the copy is an accurate copy of the original which they have seen. The documentation must be signed on each page, with the school stamp being added to each page as well.

As part of the programme, you will submit an initial and a final Portfolio of Evidence which is a record demonstrating how all the Teachers’ Standards are being met. You'll gather evidence against each of the eight national Teachers’ Standards, where you'll demonstrate:

1. Effective classroom management, showing sensitivity and responsiveness to the needs of pupils and an ability to promote learning
2. An effective and confident approach to curriculum planning
3. Subject Knowledge, particularly in relation to the breadth of the National Curriculum and your subject area
4. An ability to adapt your teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of the pupils you teach
5. An ability to use ICT effectively in your teaching and to promote student learning
6. An accurate approach to assessment
7. A professional commitment to setting high standards for yourself and your pupils
8. Commitment to your own continued professional development (CPD)

Evidence should include examples of the following (this list is not exhaustive):

1. Lesson Observations
2. Pupils' work
3. Planning evidence
4. Lesson plans showing understanding of next steps based on children’s needs
5. Assessment feedback
6. Awareness of vulnerable children/groups – effective interventions
7. Adaptive teaching
8. Vision & values of school
9. Use of school pastoral systems
10. Use of TAs for effective learning
11. Continued professional development

The Initial Portfolio of Evidence will be a work in progress, demonstrating some evidence of how you have been meeting each of the 8 Teachers’ Standards to date.

Having a master’s degree only is not accepted for entry on to the AO programme, unless it is an integrated master’s degree and you have completed four years of study. As with our other courses, if your bachelor’s degree is only a 3^rd Class honours or its equivalency is not assessed as being equivalent to the degree entry requirements, we may consider accepting a recognised master’s degree or higher qualification.

The assessment process for the AO route requires you to provide us with lesson observation video recordings. These need to be provided digitally with the explicit permission of your school. Please note the video files should be in .mp4 format and should record your full lesson.

Your school should have a pupil recording policy that you will need to adhere to. If this includes a parental permission proforma, please use this. If your school does not have a proforma, we can provide a template for you if needed.

There are NO taught university sessions in this programme, just assessment of you as a teacher.

For UK based candidates, at this time we do not offer an online option and therefore you need to be teaching in a school within a 50-mile radius of the University campus.