The new National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) was formally signed into existence today as part of an effort by the government to boost teacher recruitment and training.

The NIoT will be run by four multi-academy trusts - collectively known as the Schools-Led Development Trust (SLDT) - that were handed the contract after a long-running tender process by the Department for Education (DfE). 

This tender process actually led to a legal dispute between the DfE and the Ambition Consortium, which resulted in a settlement earlier this week.

With this resolved, the SLDT is now able to get its work underway - two months after it was named as the preferred bidder.

So now it’s up and running, what exactly will the NIoT do? Here’s a rundown of the key details of how the NIoT will work. 

What is the NIoT?

The creation of the Institute of Teaching - now known as the National Institute of Teaching - was first announced in January 2021 by the previous education secretary, Gavin Williamson.

The stated aim at the time was to offer training to around 2,000 early career teachers and 2,000 mentors per year, as well as 1,000 participants in National Professional Qualification leadership training. 

The government also wants it to act as a ”best practice incubator” by helping to ”find, interpret, generate and communicate research” and taking insights from this to its own programmes to inform the training it runs.

What qualifications will it offer?

The new NIoT website states that the following programmes will be offered:

• National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership (NPQEL) and National Leader of Education (NLE) from September 2022.
• The full suite of National Professional Qualifications from February 2023.
• Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework training from September 2023.

What will it cost?

Tes exclusively revealed in April last year that the government had set aside £121 million to fund the institute for six years.

Who is running it?

Following a pause on the awarding of the contract owing to a now-settled legal dispute, the long-awaited confirmation that the group of four multi-academy trusts known as the Schools-Led Development Trust (SLDT) would be setting up and running the new institute was announced today. 

These trusts are Harris Federation, Outwood Grange Academies Trust, Oasis Community Learning and Star Academies.

Technically, the NIoT is a charity registered by these four trusts. 

Where will it be based?

The institute’s headquarters will be in Blackburn, Lancashire, while the four MATs involved will oversee a regional campus each as follows:

• Harris Federation - London and South East Campus
• Outwood Grange Academies Trust - North East Campus
• Oasis Community Learning - Midlands and South West Campus
• Star Academies - North West Campus

When will it start?

Previously, the contract for the NIoT said that the institute would open in “early 2022” and “operate most of its core functions” by the time it opens in September of that year.

However, the contract was expected to be signed in March of this year, so there are concerns that the full rollout in September might not take place in time. So far, the government appears to be sticking to the September opening date though.

Who is leading the NIoT?

The institute will be led by Melanie Renowden. She also serves as an executive director of Star Institute and was formerly senior capacity improvement advisor at the Teaching School Hubs Council and has experience advising the DfE on policy development.

She said today that she believes the new institute will be ”uniquely positioned to create a bridge between evidence and education practice” and is “perfectly equipped to translate evidence on best practice into action”.

Meanwhile, Sir Dan Moynihan, the CEO of the Harris Federation, will serve as chair of the SLDT.

Salary information for these roles has not been revealed.

Who else is involved?

To help with the design and delivery of the programmes a series of “associate colleges” have been brought on board.

These are described as “school groups with strong track records and the capacity and expertise required to deepen and extend the impact of the NIoT” and include Bright Futures Educational Trust, David Ross Education Trust, Education South West and Unity Schools Partnership.

Meanwhile, a series of “specialist partners” will help “extend the reach” of the NIoT “so that teachers in areas that serve some of the most disadvantaged communities can access its offer”. These partners include Microsoft, Place2Be, ResearchEd, Teacher Tapp, Teach First and Newcastle University.

A full list can be seen on a blog on the NIoT website.

What does the government want the NIoT to achieve?

Ultimately, the DfE wants the NIoT to be a “key provider” of the full “golden thread” of the teaching career and to be “run by schools, for schools”. 

To do this, the institute will provide initial teacher training (ITT), the Early Career Framework (ECF), National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and National Leaders for Education (NLE) programmes. 

It will also act as a “best practice incubator” to “find, interpret, generate and communicate research, applying the insights to the design and delivery of professional development programmes”.

The research generated will then be made available for free to all teacher-training providers.

The NIoT will also have the opportunity to “link data” on teacher and leader development with data on pupil achievement to showcase examples of strong outcomes that others in the sector could learn from.  

What are the concerns?

The institute has previously faced criticism from representatives of university-based ITE providers.

James Noble-Rogers, from the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, said in January last year that they did “not see the case for investing a substantial amount of scarce public money” in a new institute for teaching. 

He added: “The institute will not lead to a net increase in new teachers as those recruited would simply be taken from existing high-quality providers, potentially threatening their viability.”

And today, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said while the creation of the institute was “welcome”, he was “gravely concerned” about the shortage of teachers and questioned if the NIoT would be able to meet that need

Specifically, he said that the union remained “concerned” about how the institute will work “alongside established teacher-training providers where there are regional campuses competing for the same pool of graduate trainees”.

“It is going to be important that the institute complements the existing system rather than leading to a muddle of teacher-training routes.”