Working together with partner schools to achieve Osted success

Outstanding Ofsted for teacher training at Exeter

Ofsted has once again confirmed the quality of the University of Exeter’s Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. 

The Graduate School of Education has maintained its position as a flagship provider for teacher training and continues to be rated as ‘outstanding’ for its overall provision of both Primary and Secondary ITE.

Cathie Holden, Associate Professor and Head of Initial Teacher Education at the University of Exeter said, ‘This is an excellent result for the Graduate School of Education as it confirms our position as one of the best providers of teacher education in the country. We were particularly pleased to have Ofsted confirm the high quality of training by ourselves and our partner schools and to have our commitment to diversity and equality rated as outstanding. The result is a testament to the hard work of all tutors, teachers and trainees.’

The report highlighted ‘the highly effective recruitment, selection and induction procedures which identify well-qualified and enthusiastic trainees with the potential and the commitment to become outstanding teachers’. It also praised the leaders and managers across the partnership, who were ‘consistent in their drive to seek improvements in the overall quality of provision’. The report made clear that such ambition was ‘firmly rooted in accurate self-review, evaluation and high-quality planning for further improvement’.

The inspectors also commended the Graduate School of Education’s partnership arrangements with its 250 schools across the South West: ‘the trainees’ excellent achievement is a direct result of very high-quality and coherent training across the partnership. Partnership schools understand the provider’s high expectations and they make an outstanding contribution to trainees’ development as teachers’.

Professor Debra Myhill, Head of the Graduate School of Education said, ‘The result of the Ofsted report is outstanding, with each area of assessment gaining a grade one. This is great news and demonstrates once again the excellence of Exeter’s Graduate School of Education.’

Date: 25 March 2010