Assessment Only
Our Assessment Only route enables you to be independently assessed against the English Teachers’ Standards and gain qualified teacher status (QTS) within three months, without leaving your current school.
Contents
Key details
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Duration
3 months -
Location
in school -
Cost
£3,000 plus VAT (as applicable) -
Funding
self-funded -
Level
primary and secondary
Course description
If you’re a member of school staff such as an unqualified teacher and you can already show that you meet the English Teachers' Standards then our Assessment Only route could be ideal for you.
Our Assessment Only route will help you to:
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Become employed as a fully qualified teacher
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Be promoted/and or gain more job security
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Increase your salary by up to £7,000* per year
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Play a more significant role in school leadership and management
We currently offer Assessment Only in primary (age ranges 3-7, 5-11 and 7-11) and all main secondary subjects (age ranges 11-16, 11-19 or 14-19).
You can learn more about this course by watching our on-demand webinar.
If you need some extra preparation before applying for our Assessment Only route, you can develop your teaching practice and build evidence against the Teachers' Standards with our personalised QTS preparation course, Straight to Teaching.
Entry requirements
To achieve QTS via our Assessment Only route you must:
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Be employed in a school in a teaching role with sole responsibility for teaching, assessment and planning
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Hold GCSEs at level 4/grade C or above in English language and maths, plus science if you want to teach in primary
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Hold a bachelor degree (300 UCAS points) awarded by a UK university or a recognised international qualification equivalent to a UK Bachelor's degree. If your degree was completed outside of the UK you will need to provide an ENIC statement to demonstrate the comparability of your qualification
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Have undertaken at least two years of teaching experience that includes evidence of whole class teaching with sole responsibility for planning, marking, assessing and reporting on pupils’ work
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For the primary phase you need to be teaching the full curriculum including the core subjects of maths, literacy – phonics and science as well as a range of foundation subjects such as geography, history, art and music. You can't be a subject specialist such as PE or music
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When enrolled you will need to provide a detailed written justification and evidence from prior experience that demonstrates you meet the English Teachers’ Standards by providing a testimony
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Provide evidence of having taught in at least two schools
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Evidence that you meet the Teachers’ Standards across a minimum of two consecutive age ranges for your chosen teaching specialism
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Demonstrate the required fundamental skills in maths and English as defined by the DfE. Further details will be provided following your application
Course delivery
One of our experienced pathway tutors will initially meet you virtually through a Keeping in Touch meeting. This will enable you to ask any questions and plan your main meeting called a Pre-Entry Assessment Visit – PEAV. They will then arrange a face-to-face visit in your school to perform lesson observations and review your eight justifications to verify that you meet the English Teachers’ Standards and other criteria before recommending you for QTS assessment.
At the assessment, the independent assessor will observe two lessons and scrutinise your eight justifications and, if you’re successful, recommend you for QTS. Everything will then be reviewed through internal moderation processes and a QTS panel. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) will award QTS based on the final recommendation from these processes.
Course leader
Andrew Locke
Andrew brings 25 years of school experience to his role as Deputy Programme Director of Assessment Only. Starting as a history teacher, he progressed to become a secondary headteacher, holding various leadership positions. Dedicated to aiding eligible staff in gaining QTS, Andrew works to address challenges in recruitment and retention. Eager to leverage his experience, he aims to support teachers, making a lasting impact in schools and classrooms.
Course fees and funding
Our Assessment Only route costs £3,000 excluding VAT.
Assessment Only route fees may be paid for by you or your school, in full, at the start of the course.*
If you are an international applicant, we will aim to find you an in-country pathway tutor and assessor to support you on the route. Where pathway tutors and assessors aren't available, you must pay and provide costs for flights, hotel, transfers and sustenance for the visit. These will be discussed with you.
Please note, if you withdraw before your PEAV, you will incur a fee of £150 to cover administration costs.
Course application and start dates
We have a rolling start date for Assessment Only. As soon as you apply and can show you meet the course entry requirements you'll be enrolled.
Next steps
You can apply for our Assessment Only route by:
- clicking the 'Apply' button
- emailing your 2 completed testimonials and Confirmation of School Support Form to institute.admissions@tes.com
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1Apply online
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2Application review and confirmation
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3Enrolment
Documents you will need
Please print off the Confirmation of School Support form below for a Senior School Manager (or staff member with equivalent authority) at your employing school to review and sign.
Your testimonials should prove that you have taught in two schools, for two years or more, with full responsibility for planning, teaching and assessing pupil progress.
These must be hand-signed (wet signature) by your head teacher.
Confirmation of School Support Form - Download
Testimonial Form - Download
Apply for Assessment Only
Need more information?
Contact us about this course.
FAQs
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You can visit ENIC – the UK national agency for international qualifications and skills to check the equivalency of your qualifications before applying to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria. You can also carry out these checks on your GCSE qualifications.
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Please be aware that you will require science at grade C/4 or above for the primary phase. For English, please ensure you seek clarification on English language equivalency as we would study it in the UK – not as an additional language.
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We can support you in completing these – to find out more read our equivalency tests information.
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Please be aware there is a charge for these tests.
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For maths, once your application is accepted, you will be asked to complete a fundamental maths assessment in exam conditions. Guidance will be shared with your headteacher including a toolkit so you can revise before the assessment.
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You will be assessed on your literacy competency through the quality of your written submissions for the route. Your headteacher will validate these by completing an audit.
- The focus is a different setting from your current school. It can also be different approaches to the curriculum or teaching strategies at your applied age phase.
- The outcome of the experience is the new knowledge you gain that you would not gain in your current setting.
Examples of second school experience are:
o A primary mainstream school rather than a Montessori setting
o An urban school rather than a rural setting
o A school that has a Sixth Form provision as your current school does not
o A single-sex school when your current school is mixed
o A school with a different social or ethnic mix of pupils
If your current employment is in an SEND or alternative provision setting you must have a minimum of 30 days of teaching experience in a mainstream/state setting. Otherwise, we request 20 days.
As part of the experience, you will be expected to:
o Observe lessons
o Teach lessons with sole responsibility
o Become involved with school activities to support you in meeting the Teacher Standards
All teaching in the second school experience must involve you taking sole responsibility for whole classes for teaching, planning, assessment and progress.
- The CSSF – Confirmation of School Support and Financial Agreement – is a document signed by your headteacher that confirms you have the support of your school. This document will need to be completed as part of the application process and confirms your school will support you on the Assessment Only Route and also confirms your teaching role and commitments as part of the eligibility criteria.
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You must have evidence of teaching across two consecutive age groups for a minimum of two years. We currently offer Assessment Only in primary (age ranges 3-7, 5-11 and 7-11) and all main secondary subjects (age ranges 11-16, 11-19 or 14-19).
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All your experience must be relevant and linked to the QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) focus you are applying for.
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Your role must have full responsibility for planning, assessing, and reviewing whole-class teaching, and responsibility for students' progression.
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Please note whole class teaching is what is typical in your school.
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Regular group work to show teaching over a period of time with an allocated group of students may be considered in discussion with the programme director.
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To be eligible for the primary phase you need to be teaching the full curriculum including the core subjects of maths, literacy – phonics, and science as well as a range of foundation subjects such as geography, history, art, music, etc. For primary, you cannot be a subject specialist such as PE or music.
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If you are teaching the British curriculum in the primary phase, you need to ensure you are aware of SATS and other statutory benchmarks. How they are delivered, what students need to learn and why, and the expected progress they will make.
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For secondary, if you are teaching KS3, you will need to be aware of the progression to GCSE and how the curriculum is structured to work towards the exam board requirements.
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Your current teaching must be the British curriculum. We may consider any prior experience you have in another curriculum, but you will need evidence of how this experience is mapped against the British curriculum and have considerable experience in your current employment.
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Roles that do not enable you to be eligible for QTS could be:
– A cover supervisor with adhoc cover where you are not delivering your own plans
– An adult educator, if you are teaching students aged 18 years plus, we advise looking into the QTLS route
– Teaching GCSE to children below the age of 14 years -
QTS assessment is relevant to the age range you wish to qualify in, so you must be teaching this to whole classes of students across the breadth of the age range. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Assessment Only route, please enquire about our Straight to Teaching course, which also leads to QTS.
- Pre-application – complete your Assessment Only audit to ensure you meet the eligibility requirements
- The application process should be completed within four weeks if you have followed all the pre-application guidance and have your verified compliance documents ready to upload to your Tes portal. If you do not meet the course requirements, you will receive an email explaining why and what you could do to meet them.
- From enrolment to Pre-Entry Assessment Visit (PEAV) should take no longer than three to six weeks.
- From PEAV to QTS assessment should take no longer than six to 12 weeks.
- From your registration with the TRA, straight after your PEAV, to QTS assessment should take no longer than three months.
- For a more detailed overview of the application process and the course please see our 5-step guide to Assessment Only
- If there are any concerns regarding your suitability to meet the Teachers' Standards or eligibility the process for Assessment Only will be halted.
*The full amount must be paid within 30 days of the date you are enrolled on the course. Failure to do so will mean your final assessment will be delayed.
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