Teacher trainers will get a three-month reprieve from Ofsted inspections to account for the disruption caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Full, graded inspections under the new initial teacher education (ITE) inspection framework were due to start from January 2021, but have now been pushed forward to April, the watchdog announced today.

Ofsted will also carry out a survey into how Covid-19 has affected the provision of ITE, for a report to be published before the start of inspections in April 2021.

In an update posted alongside the ITE inspection framework and handbook, which comes into force this academic year, the inspectorate said: “Ofsted will introduce full, graded inspections under the new ITE inspection framework from April 2021.”

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This means ITE inspections will, in effect, be delayed for three months, as they would not usually start until the spring term.

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James Noble-Rogers, executive director of the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, called the move “a step in the right direction”. But he added: “In our view, the new inspection framework should have been delayed for a full year.

“ITE providers have more pressing things, such as supporting student teachers and partner schools, to focus on at the moment.”

Emma Hollis, executive director of the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT), welcomed the delay.

She said: “Until the announcement was made, providers had been expecting inspections to resume from January 2021, so this announcement has generally landed well with the sector, as they appreciate the recognition that the current situation with the pandemic requires a proportionate approach when it comes to inspection.”

The news follows an announcement from the Department for Education last week that the return of full inspections of schools was being pushed forward until after Easter.

The inspectorate had been scheduled to resume in January. However, the DfE confirmed that graded school inspections will not take place in the spring term of 2021.

Ofsted will carry out monitoring inspections of schools rated as “requires improvement” and “inadequate” from next month.