Our Vision.

Through a well-sequenced, coherent ITT curriculum built on the relevant professional and academic literature, and a team of Teacher Educators that draw on and model expert application of the curriculum relevant to subject and phase, Educate trainees will be prepared with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully meet the Teachers’ Standards, set them off on a journey of continual improvement in their ECT years and beyond, and deliver high quality teaching to all pupils they teach.

About Us.

If you want to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through a practical, ‘hands-on’, school-based route in a school of your choice, then Educate Initial Teacher Training is for you. Educate is an accredited ITT provider, with a long-standing reputation for successful Primary and Secondary QTS programmes based in varied and diverse partner schools.

You have the unique opportunity to train in a school near to where you live and gain QTS with a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) (60 Master’s credits), validated by Leeds Beckett University.

Trainees spend a full-time year teaching and training in schools and also attend provider-led lecture/workshop sessions to enhance subject knowledge, general classroom practice and teaching pedagogy. To support trainees, provider-led training takes place once a week and is predominantly online, reducing both the time and cost of travel to trainees. Centralised training sessions cover content such as High Expectations, Behaviour Management, How Pupils Learn, Adaptive Teaching, Classroom Practice, Curriculum and Assessment in line with the Core Content Framework. This is supplemented by opportunities to observe other teachers in a range of school settings and to undertake a variety of school-based training enhancements, including a six-week placement in a contrasting school and short placement visits to other schools for e.g. a Special School.

Trainees are supported by expert practitioners, individual mentors, and a personal Link Tutor.

“Educate Group Initial Teacher Training has created a strong sense of community that trainees value.”
“Trainees spoke highly of the wide range of support that is available to them, including for their well-being.”
“Leaders have designed an ambitious and flexible ITE curriculum that suits trainees’ individual circumstances, while preparing them sufficiently well to embark on a career in teaching.”
“Ensures that trainees become fully immersed in the realities of what it means to be a teacher.”

(Ofsted, 2024).

With Educate, Trainees enjoy the advantage of an ‘on the job’ experience, where the realities of life as a teacher are fully explored and understood.

We are a National Provider in England with School Partnerships across Cheshire, Shropshire, North East, East Midlands, Leeds, Lincolnshire, Bradford, Yorkshire & the Humber.

Please contact us to find out if we operate in your location.

Our Offer.

We are proud to offer a diverse range of routes into teaching. When you choose to work in partnership with Educate you will experience:

01. The perfect fit. The School and Trainee will always have an opportunity to meet beforehand.

02. A tailored Educate learning pathway that meets your specific needs and requirements.

03. An Initial Teacher Training provider offering the School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) and the Assessment Only routes to teaching.

Our Proven Process.

All Initial Teacher Training pathways are delivered using our Educate Partnership and Support Approach which ensures we get it right for everyone by…

Our ITT Promise.

Trainee Teachers:

We promise that we will find you the right pathway to enable you to become the best teacher you can be.

______

We regularly hold exclusive online events for anyone interested in training to teach. Take a look at our News page for details on any upcoming events.

PGCE and QTS – What’s the Difference?

QTS stands for Qualified Teacher Status and is a required qualification to work as a teacher in maintained or special school in England and Wales. To gain your Qualified Teacher Status, you need to demonstrate that you meet the Teachers’ Standards, as set out by the government. This is assessed towards the end of your training year.

PGCE stands for Postgraduate Certificate in Education. The PGCE doesn’t qualify you to teach on its own, and it isn’t a requirement to teach in England, but it’s an extra qualification that really grounds you in the theory of education and allows you to engage with the latest research. It’s also internationally recognised, so if you ever wanted the option to teach outside England or Wales, it’s a good qualification to have alongside the QTS.

The Educate Initial Teaching Training programme enables trainees to gain a PGCE alongside QTS. The PGCE is delivered by Educate and accredited by Leeds Beckett University. This means the PGCE element is integrated into your school-based experience with the required academic rigour to complete three 2,500-word assignments. As a student of LBU you also have full access to their services, for e.g., the library and Wellbeing Team. Once you’ve completed your PGCE, you’ll gain 60 credits which can be put towards a Master’s degree (a full Master’s degree is usually made up of 180 credits).

Our Team.

Kristy

Kristy is our Head of Initial Teacher Training. She trained through Teach First, teaching science in an inner-city secondary school, later becoming Assistant Principal responsible for Teaching and Learning. Kristy moved into Teacher Education, leading Professional Development programmes for teachers across the sector, from Subject Leaders to Headteachers, as well as School Improvement programmes. Most notably Kristy was involved with the roll out of the Early Career Framework.

Scott

Scott is one of our Programme Leaders and a Lead Mentor (Secondary Specialism). Having previously taught Geography for 20 years and having been Deputy Headteacher with responsibility for quality of education he has a wide range of experiences to draw upon. He has mentored trainees as a subject mentor and led training and delivered continuous professional development across the school environment. Scott also has experience of training across the education sector and has spent time developing education systems within a national environmental charity.

Simon

Simon is one of our Programme Leaders and a Lead Mentor (Primary Specialism). He has taught across a wide range of primary contexts, fulfilling roles from class teacher to acting Headteacher. He has also collaborated with other teacher training providers to write bespoke training on aspects such as teaching writing and behaviour management. He has worked with Educate Group since 2014, successfully supporting hundreds of trainees to achieve QTS in that time.

Mike

Mike is our Assessment Only Programme Manager. He has worked in education for over 30 years teaching in three different secondary schools and in a local authority as a school improvement officer. Mike has been an ITT programme manager for over 20 years. He has also worked independently as an education consultant supporting ITT providers, schools, local authorities and unions. He still keeps in touch with his teaching roots and continues a teaching commitment.

Claire

Claire is our Senior Administrator. Claire has worked in Initial Teacher Training for over 15 years. She has an excellent knowledge of all the routes into teacher training and can support you from application through to the award of QTS. She can also advise on entry qualifications (including from overseas) student finance, government bursaries and scholarships.