Equality and Diversity Policy

LAST UPDATED 28 FEBRUARY 2025

This policy applies to all:

applicants or potential applicants to Tes Institute;
learners of Tes Institute.

Tes Institute is committed to:

employing a proactive and equitable approach to equality and diversity, which supports and encourages applications from all under-represented groups, promotes an accepting and inclusive culture for learners and values diversity;
a policy and practice which require that admission to, and progression on, Tes Institute programmes for learners will be determined only by personal merit, performance and the application of criteria which are related to eligibility and suitability.

The purpose of this policy is to provide assurance that, subject to statutory provisions, no learner, or applicant for admission as a learner, will be treated less favourably than another because they belong to a group with protected characteristics. Tes Institute recognises that some applicants or learners may require additional or different support and will take every reasonably possible step to address those support needs. Tes Institute’s separate Learner Support Policy provides further details of the support provided to learners during their time with Tes Institute.

Protected characteristics are defined in the Equality Act 2010 as:

Sex
Gender Reassignment
Marriage or Civil Partnership
Pregnancy or Maternity
Race (including Ethnic or National Origin, Nationality or Colour)
Disability
Sexual Orientation
Age
Religion or Belief.

Tes Institute respects all religious and philosophical beliefs, as well as the lack of religion or belief, and the right of all members of its community to discuss and debate these issues freely.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) requires education providers such as Tes Institute to make 'reasonable provisions' to ensure people with disabilities or special needs are provided with the same opportunities as those who are not disabled.

Tes Institute will seek to provide support to, and actively welcomes applications from, learners with a disability and will provide learners with a disability with the information required to enable them to seek assistance and arrange for reasonable accommodations where required and appropriate.

Those learners that require accommodations in all areas of their studies with Tes Institute will be considered through this procedure. Those learners seeking accommodations in assessment only, for example, additional time, should contact Tes Institute to discuss possible accommodation in assessment.

The Equality Act 2010 guidance states:

“A person has a disability if he has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”

For the purposes of the Act, these words have the following meanings:

'substantial' means more than minor or trivial
'long-term' means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least twelve months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)
'normal day-to-day activities' include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping.

Progressive conditions considered to be a disability

There are additional provisions relating to people with progressive conditions. People with HIV, cancer or multiple sclerosis are protected by the Act from the point of diagnosis. People with some visual impairments are automatically deemed to be disabled.

The Equality Act 2010 does not require providers to make reasonable adjustments to a provision, criterion or practice that is defined as a competence standard. It is good practice for providers to:

identify what the competence standards are for each course and assessment;
why they are competence standards;
to record that information;
to share it with learners.

Information on competence standards, assessment and reasonable adjustments should be made available to learners so they can make informed decisions when applying to courses. Where conflict arises between reasonable adjustments provision and professional bodies’ requirements in relation to fitness to practise, Tes Institute may seek additional professional advice in an attempt to support the learner wherever possible.

Tes Institute will:

ensure that all potential applicants, as well as learners, have access to this policy;
seek to provide information in suitable formats to accommodate individual needs;
assess applicants who disclose disabilities or specific needs solely on the basis of their academic potential and suitability for the programme;
invite applicants with a disability or specific need to contact Tes Institute to discuss how their requirements can be accommodated;
provide additional support or resources at the application stage to enable the applicant to complete the application process including attending interview where applicable;
offer additional provision to ensure there is no disadvantage compared with other applicants;
work towards the earliest possible assessment of needs and offer of reasonable accommodations where required;
make reasonable accommodations in assessment where applicable and without impacting the learning outcomes to be assessed;
provide educational support services as appropriate and applicable for eligible learners;
take steps to encourage learners with progressive conditions, or who become disabled during their programme of study, to continue their studies;
promote an inclusive environment and attitude at Tes Institute and endeavour to provide appropriate training to staff and faculty where required.

Providers have a responsibility to ensure that ITT learners 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. Providers are responsible for ensuring that only learners who have the capacity to teach remain on the programme. People with disabilities or chronic illnesses may have the capacity to teach, just as those without disabilities or medical conditions may be unsuitable to teach. Further information on training to teach with a disability is available from the DfE website.

Applicants or potential applicants with a disability or learning need are advised to contact the Tes Institute Support Team by e-mail or telephone to discuss their personal needs with a view to Tes Institute implementing appropriate strategies and resources to accommodate their needs in applying for a programme of study at Tes Institute. Applicants or potential applicants can be required to provide independent, authenticated evidence to support their request for accommodations. All such requests are brought to the attention of the relevant Head of Programme who will make necessary arrangements to support the application. The applicant will be advised of the arrangements and accommodations to be made to facilitate their application and completion of the admissions process.

Applicants to a Tes Institute Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Programme will be required to complete a Fitness to Work Declaration, as part of the eligibility and suitability requirements for the programme.

Learners should advise Tes Institute of their circumstances at the earliest opportunity. Learners can share their needs through the completion of an occupational health assessment and the completion of registration documents as part of their enrolment or at a later point in the programme when circumstances change. We would encourage learners to discuss their needs with programme leaders.

Learners may be required to provide original, independent and authenticated evidence from a relevant consultant, health care practitioner or educational psychologist providing details of the disability, condition or learning need, the impact this has and the recommended support requirements to be provided by Tes Institute.

On receipt of the request for support, the relevant Head of Programme will make an assessment and identify ways in which Tes Institute may be able to provide the reasonable accommodations identified. This can require discussion with Tes Institute colleagues and, where applicable, school staff to ensure all teaching, learning and assessment requirements are taken into account and may require a risk assessment where appropriate, particularly in the case of learners who are undertaking school placements.

Successful applicants offered a conditional place on a Tes Institute ITT programme will be asked to complete a short pre-employment health questionnaire prior to commencing the programme. ITT providers should ensure that they only ask targeted and relevant health-related questions, which are necessary to ensure that a person is able to teach. The questionnaire may be used to declare any barriers to learning, whether these are classed as a disability or not.

If an applicant or learner teacher declares any barriers, they will be asked to complete a more detailed occupational health assessment form. Occupational Health may then advise Tes Institute of any reasonable adjustments it should make and the form will be used to scaffold a discussion with their Support Tutor, their Pathway Tutor and the ITT Coordinator, in order for Tes Institute to ensure that the learner teacher’s needs are met as fully as possible.

An initial appointment will be arranged to discuss the impact of the disability or health condition on the learner teacher’s studies and time in school, and any reasonable adjustments that can be put in place as part of a Support or Negotiated Learning Plan (‘the Plan’) or risk assessment. With the learner teacher’s consent, the Plan will be shared with the school leader, mentor and learner teacher’s pathway tutor. If a learner teacher does not attend an appointment to discuss a support plan, reasonable adjustments will not be put in place.

Tes Institute recognises that there can be occasions when a disability or learning need is not disclosed at the point of application. In such cases, Tes Institute cannot guarantee to provide all necessary resources and support but will at all times seek to make reasonable accommodations in line with relevant legislation once the disclosure has been made and assessment completed.

Please see Appendix B of this policy for detailed information about the support for learners on Tes Institute’s ITT Programme who have declared a disability.

Tes Institute will endeavour to consider the requirements of disabled learners in the following areas:

inclusive and accessible programme design;
that, where practicable, all learning and teaching materials are accessible as standard;
that, where practicable, disabled learners have equal opportunities to access both online learning and school-based placements;
that appropriate assessment adjustments are implemented within the constraints of Tes Institute policy, to ensure that assessment practices should provide the same opportunities as non-disabled peers.

All information is maintained in strict confidence in line with data protection legislation and shared only on a need-to-know basis. Please see the Data Protection section below for further information.

Tes Institute accepts that it might be appropriate to discuss access and inclusion matters with a third party representative and will undertake such discussions in a general sense. Unless Tes Institute is in receipt of express written permission from the applicant or learner concerned, detailing the matters that can be discussed, with whom and in what circumstances, Tes Institute will not discuss the specific details of individual applicants or learners with a third party except in the following circumstances:

to validate evidence provided to support a request for accommodations (see below)
in the prevention or detection of a crime
where the learner’s behaviour suggests they or other people may be put at risk
where the learner’s condition would prevent them from fulfilling professional practice requirements
where learners must disclose due to professional practice requirements.

Information about a learner’s physical or mental health is classified as special category personal data and must be stored and used in line with the requirements of data protection legislation. Reasonable adjustments should be made in line with a learner’s request for confidentiality. If the learner asks for disclosure of a disability to be kept confidential, it should be explained to the learner that a likely consequence of this is that reasonable adjustments might have to be provided in an alternative way, that a less effective adjustment is provided or that appropriate and tailored support cannot be put in place. This explanation must be recorded in writing.

Tes Institute takes active steps to promote the policy and its implementation to ensure good practice. In particular it:

subjects its policies to regular review (annually as a minimum) in order to examine how they affect groups with protected characteristics and to identify whether the implementation of its policies helps to achieve equity for all these groups by e.g. analysing learner cohort data relating to recruitment and programme completion;
engages a diverse range of learners in reviewing policy and practice e.g. by regularly reviewing relevant policies, and their implementation;
ensures that a) learners understand the process for raising an issue and b) the process for raising an issue is as straightforward as possible, so that learners do not feel discouraged from reporting an incident;
ensures all those involved in working on Tes Institute programmes are aware of the policy and trained to implement it effectively, with regular updated training provided as the policy evolves;
monitors the recruitment and progress of all learners, collecting and collating equalities information and data as required by law;
takes positive action wherever possible to support this policy and its aims, including acting where learner recruitment and progress data indicates that improvements are required in order to achieve equity for all groups with protected characteristics;
includes regular celebrations of diversity in Tes Institute learner newsletters;
publishes this policy widely amongst learners, together with policy assessments, equality analysis and results of monitoring – see Appendix A for incident reporting statistics.

A1. Prior to Programme Start

At application: declaration of a disability
At interview: applicant given opportunity to discuss any barriers/possible support
Upon offer of a place on the programme:

o   initial needs assessment leading to potential recommendation of Occupational Health (OH) assessment
o   learner gives consent to an OH assessment/sharing of information with programme support team
o   OH assessment takes place and results discussed with learner, partnership and school leaders
o   support plan discussed between partnership/school/programme leader and learner. Plan shared with leaders, pathway tutor and mentor and actions put in place.

A2. Prior to Programme Start – process in detail

Applications are checked for any declaration of a disability to trigger an opportunity to start a conversation with the learner at interview
At interview, learners are given the opportunity to discuss any barriers to training and any support they would benefit from (learners do not need to declare at interview but as an inclusive provider, Tes Institute gives learners the opportunity)
Once offered a place, before the start of the programme, Programme leaders make an initial assessment of the learner's needs in discussion with the learner (for all learners declaring a disability at application or at interview). The outcome would be to recommend OH assessment or not (e.g. if a learner has a long-standing illness such as diabetes, the learner may decline an OH assessment; however, most discussions result in a recommendation for an OH referral)
Learner consents to an OH referral and to share their disability and needs with those closely supporting them during training: Programme Leaders, Partnership Leader, School leader, Mentor and Pathway Tutor
OH referral takes place, usually before the programme start; depending on the learner need, the learner will not usually be in school whilst awaiting the OH assessment
OH assessment is received and discussed with the learner, partnership leader and school leader
A support plan is discussed between partnership leader or school leader or programme leader and the learner. The plan is then shared with leaders, Pathway Tutor and Mentor and actions put in place. The support plan is reviewed regularly and adapted as necessary (both 1st and 2nd placements)

A3. During the Programme

Concern raised by school leader, pathway tutor or programme leader or a learner discloses an illness, disability or mental health condition
Programme and partnership leader assesses learner need in discussion with the learner
OH referral is recommended or no OH referral is made and decisions are recorded
OH assessment is received and discussed with the learner, partnership leader and school leader
Where no OH referral is made, partnership and programme leaders will put a support plan in place (even if the plan is to take no action but review in a certain number of weeks)
A support plan is discussed between partnership leader, school leader or programme leader and the learner. The plan is then shared with leaders, the pathway tutor and mentor and actions put in place
The support plan is reviewed regularly and adapted as necessary
The support plan is reviewed on second placement and adapted as necessary
If the learner’s condition worsens:
o the learner can be asked to consent to a further OH assessment
o programme leaders may consult an OH specialist for a face-to-face meeting with the learner and a review of the support plan.