As some of you may know, i recently wrote to our lovely Education Secretary Mr. Gove (douche-bag specialist) about the state of our GTP application process.
GOOD NEWS! I got a response! And a pretty good one at that :-P.
Hope you enjoy reading it. And also, remember, if you want something, don’t be afraid to pursue it to the bitter end! Good times. I do like surprise emails in my inbox every now and again!

Dear Mr Stevens

Thank you for your email and letter of 24 March, addressed to the Secretary of State for Education about initial teacher training (ITT) and in particular the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). I am sure you will appreciate that as the Secretary of State receives a great deal of correspondence he is unable to respond to each one personally. On this occasion I have been asked to reply on his behalf.

I was sorry to hear about the frustrations you experienced when applying for the GTP. As you make clear in your letter, information on different teacher training programmes and how to apply for them should be readily available to potential applicants such as yourself. The Department is aware that candidates can find the GTP difficult to apply for, so we are making a number of changes to address this and the other issues you raise in your letter.

We are currently finalising plans to reform the GTP. Our proposals include making the programme more school-led, so schools have a greater role in selecting candidates and designing training courses. We also want to make the programme easier to apply for. We will do this by listing all schools that have funded GTP training places on the Department’s website, so potential candidates are aware of their options. In future years, GTP training places will be included in a Single Application System, so potential trainees can apply for all post graduate certificate of education (PGCE) and GTP courses through a single system at the same time. We will announce further details of our proposals later this year.

In your letter, you raise concerns about a rule of ‘black listing’ unsuccessful GTP applicants from re-applying for a minimum of 3 years. The Department for Education does not have any record of, nor does it endorse this course of action. We thank you for bringing this potential practice to our attention and rest assured we will investigate the matter thoroughly.

The requirements for ITT (see R2.5 at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/initial/b00205422/qtsanditt/itt-requirements/training) on equality of access requires training providers to ensure that procedures for recruitment, training and assessment are fair. They must ensure that they promote equality of opportunity and do not discriminate against individuals or groups when making decisions about selection and training.

Finally, I was interested to read about your concerns regarding the recruitment of male teachers on primary GTP courses. We agree that further effort should be made and resources invested to encourage an increase in the number of men entering primary ITT. We are therefore working with the Teaching Agency to develop a programme of activities to increase the number of males entering the primary phase.

As part of our commitment to improving the service we provide to our customers, we are interested in hearing your views and would welcome your comments via our website at http://www.education.gov.uk/pcusurvey

Yours sincerely

Cathy Horrocks
Public Communications Unit