Please read the below information and complete the form at the end

Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers have a responsibility to ensure that trainees have the health and physical capacity to teach and will not put children and young people at risk of harm. The activities that a teacher must be able to perform are set out in the Education (Health Standards) (England) Regulations 2003.

To fulfil the conditions of your offer, you will need to submit an Occupational Health Assessment Form and be assessed as 'fit to teach' or 'fit to teach with adjustments'. Any medical and/or personal information (including any disability) you disclose on your Occupational Health Assessment form will be held “in confidence” by the Occupational Health Department. Specific information about underlying causes will not be disclosed to the Centre for Teacher Education without your permission. With your permission, the Centre for Teacher Education will be advised of any relevant condition, its effect on function and recommended adjustments to allow you as a trainee to fulfil the required competencies for graduation and professional practice in the UK

PLEASE NOTE: iQTS candidates are not required to complete an Occupational Health Assessment Form, but must complete the form at the end of this page

Health and physical capacity to teach

The activities that a teacher must be able to perform are set out in the Fitness to Teach – Occupational health guidance for the training and employment of teachers (DfEE 2000) and Education (Health Standards) (England) Regulations 2003. These activities include:

• The ability to communicate effectively with pupils, colleagues and pupils’ relatives
• Possession of sound judgement and insight
• The ability to remain alert at all times
• The ability to respond to pupils’ needs rapidly and effectively
• The ability to manage classes
• The trainee must not constitute a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of pupils
• Planning and preparing lessons and courses for children and young people
• Delivering lessons
• Assessing development, progress and attainment, and
• Reporting on development, progress and attainment.

There is no legal requirement for a teacher to be able to lift heavy objects, drive, swim, deal with a child’s everyday physical need or participate in physically demanding activities. Further information on training to teach with a disability is available from the DfE website.

Examples of impairment needing careful assessment to ensure safe teaching practice:

• Mobility – must be compatible with outcomes set by the DfE, including responding to pupils’ needs rapidly and effectively
• Upper Limb function – all trainees must have manual dexterity sufficient to achieve mandatory outcomes set by the DfE
• Vision, Hearing and Speech – must be compatible with the ability to communicate effectively with pupils, colleagues and pupils’ relatives
• Freedom of infection – Trainees have a responsibility to protect pupils and colleagues from an increased risk of infection. If trainee teacher is aware that they have a condition which could be transmitted to a pupil, they must take and follow advice from a consultant in occupational health or from another suitably qualified doctor
• Interruption of consciousness – The risk must be low enough to represent minimal risk to pupils and must be compatible with responding to pupils’ needs rapidly and effectively
• Concentration, awareness, memory, ability to learn and understand, literacy and numeracy – trainees must be able to meet the competence standards set by the DfE in relation to spoken, written and electronic communication with pupils, colleagues and pupils’ relatives, as well as sound judgement and insight. Trainees must have full awareness of their own mental health, when to seek help and from whom.