The Education (Teachers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Education (Teachers) Regulations 1993 (“the principal Regulations”). Apart from minor and drafting amendments, the following changes have been made.

The current schemes by which unqualified teachers can become qualified teachers whilst being employed at a school, known as the licensed, overseas trained and registered teacher schemes are revoked, save for transitional provisions (see regulation 6). Those schemes are replaced by new programmes, known as the graduate teacher and registered teacher programmes (see regulation 4 and Schedule 1). The programmes enable a person who is not a qualified teacher to teach at a school maintained by a local education authority, except a pupil referral unit, a special school not so maintained or a grant-maintained school, if he is authorised to do so. Authorisations to teach will be granted by the Teacher Training Agency in England and the Secretary of State in Wales.

A person who successfully completes service as a graduate or registered teacher and is assessed as meeting the standards required of a person who seeks to become a qualified teacher may be awarded qualified teacher status (see paragraph 8 of the new Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations, inserted by regulation 5 and Schedule 2 to these Regulations).

Where a person who seeks to become a qualified teacher will not be employed under a contract of employment at a school maintained by a local education authority, a special school not so maintained or a grant-maintained school during his period of training, the Teacher Training Agency or, in Wales, the Secretary of State, may approve that person’s training programme as a programme leading to qualified teacher status. If that person successfully completes the training programme and is assessed as meeting the standards required of a person who seeks to become a qualified teacher he may be awarded qualified teacher status (see paragraph 10 of the new Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations, inserted by regulation 5 and Schedule 2 to these Regulations).

Regulation 7 revokes the Regulations listed in Schedule 3 to these Regulations to the extent specified therein.