Teachers are at the heart of our schools and education system. It is teachers who make the difference to their own students’ life chances, and it is good teachers working together who enable a school to fly.

That is why the training of teachers should be our highest priority.

The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) market review was set up to look across the landscape of teacher training providers, including both universities and our many school-based providers, to see what needs to be done to ensure that the very best practice, combined with the best insights from research and evidence, form the foundation of all teacher training.

Our new teachers, and the children and young people they will teach, deserve nothing less.

We know more about what goes on “under the bonnet” of great teaching than ever before. There have always been excellent teachers, of course, but thanks to research over the past 20 years we are better able than ever to pinpoint the essential components of that great practice.

Research and evidence

I have been a teacher in state-funded schools all my working life. I have always thought of teaching as a true profession.

To continue to live up to that, we must make sure all teachers are given access to the latest research and evidence about the business of teaching.

This helps us make better decisions for our own classes, but also equips us to make a well-informed contribution to the wider professional debate. We would expect the same in any other profession.

I am delighted that the government has accepted the main recommendations in the report we published back in July.

The missing link

The reforms being announced today are the missing link in the commitment to teacher professional development, complementing the early career framework and the new national professional qualifications.

As teachers, all of us know how important it is to have a clear curriculum to follow for our classes. The same applies when we train teachers.

These reforms will ensure that all providers of teacher training offer a clear, evidence-based programme, delivered in a logical order.

It will make sure trainees are confident and secure in the basics of teaching, as relevant to their subject and age range, before gradually moving on to more difficult or complex areas.

Mentors play a critical part in teacher training. They are there to guide, encourage, model great practice and give feedback.

That is why we decided it was time for a real boost to their role. In the future, new requirements will ensure that all mentors receive a minimum high-quality training entitlement.

Why mentors matters 

Mentors will be well-equipped to know and understand the curriculum that trainees are working through, so they can tailor guidance, reinforce key messages at the right time and focus feedback on the most relevant points.

The expertise ITT mentors will gain from their own mentor training will, of course, come back into the schools where they work.

While setting aside time for teachers to work as mentors might feel like a stretch for some, the benefits of strong mentoring are so great for teachers that we must see this through.

That is why I am delighted the government has agreed to £25 million of additional funding to support the training of mentors.

Most teacher trainees spend a large part of their time embedded in classes in their teaching practice schools. This is essential and will continue. However, it is critical to get the building blocks of great teaching right, before we try to put them together.

The best training is not only rooted in evidence; it also bridges the research-practice gap by enabling trainees to hone specific classroom approaches that research tells us are the best bets for success.

The case for reaccreditation 

A different kind of teaching practice that focuses intensively on a limited number of essential building blocks can therefore accelerate progress and build confidence.

I am delighted that our recommendation on this has also been accepted, with £5.7 million of additional funding to set it up for all teacher trainees.

To bring all this about, we need to make sure that all providers are ready and able to step up to the higher bar set by the new Quality Requirements.

That is why we recommended that all providers offering training leading to Qualified Teacher Status, whether existing or new, should have to be accredited against the Quality Requirements.

Where current providers need more capacity or expertise, they should consider partnering with other providers.

This way, we can make sure that all teachers benefit from the best possible training. I am pleased that the government has agreed with us.

Taken together, these reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revolutionise teacher training.

Great professional training, based on the best evidence and experience, and supported by great mentors, has the power to change lives, not just of future teachers, but of the students they will teach for decades to come.

Ian Bauckham CBE is chair of the Initial Teacher Training market review and CEO of Tenax Schools Trust