Future Teacher Training

Future Teacher Training

Address: Future Academies (Churchill Gardens), Ranelagh Rd, Pimlico, SW1V 3EU Unique reference number (URN): 70293

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees excel in learning to be an expert teacher in their chosen field, showing a deep knowledge and understanding of the highly ambitious curriculum. They apply their sophisticated knowledge in the classroom very successfully, discerning skilfully how best to refine approaches to respond to pupils’ needs. Trainees use their learning continually as a basis for astute critical reflections and academic writing to support their progress. Sustained, high-quality mentoring contributes significantly to trainees’ understanding of their strengths and what to do to improve. Their reflections on their practice connect firmly to curriculum content, including academic research.

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Achievement Exceptional

The course prepares trainees fully for the realities of a career in teaching. By the end of the year, trainees’ practice is excellent, effortlessly incorporating teaching choices that reflect the highest of aspirations of all pupils. Trainees weave their teaching and assessment strategies skilfully and explicitly into their classrooms, showing an acute understanding of inclusive practices. This is complemented by trainees’ expertise in rapidly establishing a highly positive classroom culture. For example, trainees exude confidence in the way they select and deploy appropriate behaviour strategies to sustain pupils’ engagement. Trainees successfully complete the programmes and achieve qualified teacher status.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The curriculum expertly supports trainees to become highly independent, critical practitioners. The research-informed curriculum enables trainees to constantly consider what is working in their teaching practice and why. Leaders continually refine what trainees study and when, informed by their acute understanding of what trainees need to learn to develop into expert teachers of their subject. The curriculum also ensures that trainees develop a very secure understanding of how to keep pupils safe.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Key concepts in the curriculum are meticulously sequenced and integrated, including Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP). Course and subject leaders introduce key themes, such as ‘securing pupils’ attention’, early on. These concepts are then deliberately revisited and critiqued, including, for example, during high-quality mentor interactions and subject- specific sessions. The subject and core curriculums link and reinforce each other intelligently. Across subjects, teaching flexibly introduces subject-specific concepts at precisely the right times to expand on and complement what has previously been taught.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Through constant, high-quality conversations with teacher trainers and mentors, trainees diligently refine and critique their teaching, including, for example, the use of metacognition during ITAP sessions. In the following weeks, trainees expand on these key concepts in subject-specific sessions and during in-school training. Alongside this, trainees integrate what they learn into their ‘intellectual preparation’ and rehearse this during mentor meetings. When they deploy the techniques in the classroom, mentoring provides precise, purposeful feedback on what to do next, and why. This cycle is consistently replicated across all aspects of the course, with carefully chosen assessment approaches supporting trainees to excel. Written assignments are also integrated fully into the course. This ensures that trainees can showcase their academic research and critical analysis skills.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The provider’s innovative approach to mentor recruitment, training and quality assurance ensures consistently excellent support for all trainees. All mentors follow a tailored ‘mentoring on mentoring’ programme, incorporating tailored, granular targets to enhance their expertise, both in the ITE curriculum and as mentors. This works in complete harmony with mentors’ wider professional learning programme, which has been designed by the same leaders that oversee the ITE programme. This fosters a culture where mentors pursue excellence for trainees and for themselves.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

All teacher trainers are highly skilled in ensuring that trainees, including those with identified barriers to their learning, receive the highest quality of training. Teacher trainers adeptly model the teaching practice that they expect of trainees in the classroom, supporting trainees to swiftly link and integrate new knowledge into their existing practice.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Equipping trainees fully to teach pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is tightly linked into all aspects of the programme. This prepares trainees to teach

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Strong standard

pupils experiencing disadvantage and pupils with SEND very effectively, across all routes into teaching.

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Leadership Exceptional

The provider acts out the trust vision of ‘freedom through education’ by expertly implementing an exacting curriculum. Leaders are dedicated to developing trainees’ inclusive practice. To support this aim, they ensure that all trainees teach in schools with high levels of disadvantage during their time on the programme.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders systematically and continuously identify and improve areas of the provision. Over a sustained period across the curriculum, teaching and training, leaders have been unwavering in their work to evaluate, refine and finesse what they do.

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Leadership Exceptional

Professional learning for all teacher trainers and mentors is meticulously tailored to their individual needs. Staff and mentors report very high levels of satisfaction, free from any forms of bullying and discrimination. They report that their wellbeing is prioritised and workload thoughtfully considered.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders have developed deep and highly productive relationships with external partners. In a pursuit of excellence, they regularly host and train other providers and share groundbreaking practice with others. This includes work and research with organisations that have national reach.

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Leadership Exceptional

Those responsible for oversight of the programme have ensured that their highly ambitious, trust-wide vision for education is deeply ingrained in leaders’ work. Over many years, trustees have prioritised initial teacher education (ITE), leading to seamless integration between the ITE programme and the wider work of the trust. They provide highly effective professional support and challenge which fuels leaders’ pursuit of excellence.

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Leadership Exceptional

The provider meets all compliance criteria, including for trainees who complete the apprenticeship route into teaching. Leaders have a secure knowledge of safer recruitment practices and ensure that they, and partner schools, carry out all appropriate checks on trainees.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have established a supportive culture where trainees are comfortable to ask for help. Leaders and mentors give trainees many opportunities throughout the course to share any needs that arise. They are proactive in ensuring that trainees have access to effective support to help them to overcome any barriers to their learning. This support includes, for example, financial assistance and opportunities to access on-site accommodation. Leaders have also worked with an external partner to establish a childminding service at the trust's head office, which trainees can access should they need to.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure continual improvement across their programmes, including to further elevate aspects of their support for trainees, in order to have a transformational impact. Wherever necessary, leaders collaborate with school leaders in placement schools to put in place helpful, reasonable adjustments to support trainees, including those with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, leaders make proportionate adjustments to trainees’ teaching timetables where this is helpful. This is always done in collaboration with trainees and school leaders to ensure that trainees receive the right support at the right time. Leaders also provide ongoing training for mentors so that they are fully equipped to support trainees who may have barriers to their learning. Leaders communicate regularly and clearly with trainees, who value this support. Trainees receive weekly guidance, which signposts them to information and support available.

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Next steps

Leaders systematically review the effectiveness of their inclusion work to support trainees. Those responsible for oversight ask challenging questions of leaders to ensure that inclusion remains a top priority

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

From the outset, the curriculum for professional behaviours highlights leaders’ high expectations of trainees’ commitment to learning and regular attendance. This sits alongside values that leaders instil in trainees to be positive, professionally proactive and reflective. Throughout the course, trainees develop their knowledge of how to look after and prioritise their own wellbeing, such as being able to distinguish between stress and challenge and appreciate the importance of rest and leisure. To understand this in context, trainees also consider how to approach realistic scenarios, such as in-work conflict resolution.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders skilfully model aspects of the curriculum in order to build trainees’ resilience. For example, the ‘gradual release of responsibility’ model supports trainees to manage their workload and protect their wellbeing. By the end of the course, they do this independently. Actions such as these support trainees to complete the programme successfully.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders provide effective pastoral support and take action to support trainees’ wellbeing, for example considering assignment deadlines following feedback. Trainees report no incidences of bullying, harassment or discrimination.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees are very well supported to enact their professional behaviours. They demonstrate this through their positive interactions with each other, pupils and teacher trainers. Trainees also know how to safeguard themselves.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

From the moment they enrol on the course, trainees are guided successfully to become highly effective teachers in their subject. When they qualify, trainees demonstrate an intimate and sophisticated knowledge of curriculum and teaching. They discuss their knowledge fluently and enact it in the classroom with high levels of success. Almost all trainees at this provider train at schools within the trust. Leaders ensure that every interaction that trainees have with staff supports them to craft and refine their knowledge of teaching. The very small number of trainees who are not on teaching placements within trust schools receive the same high level of support and, in turn, gain equally high levels of knowledge and skills. Any trainees with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing are supported fully to reach their potential throughout the course.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

All mentors have excellent knowledge of the trainees’ curriculum. They are themselves expert practitioners. They use these skills, carefully overseen by leaders, to provide accurate and powerful feedback to trainees throughout the year. This ongoing, inciteful feedback helps to unlock trainees’ potential and to transform them into excellent teachers, fully prepared for a sustained career in teaching their subject.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Teacher trainers deliver the curriculum adeptly. This includes extremely high-quality subject- specific training. Trainees are fully immersed in their subject communities, with support from expert subject leaders, across all routes into teaching. All training, which is meticulously quality assured, models and enacts the teaching principles that trainees learn. Trainees, and those who have recently completed the course, overwhelmingly report high levels of satisfaction. One trainee, representing the views of many, said: ‘This course and my mentor have both been incredibly supportive and very knowledge-rich.’

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Throughout their training, trainees become highly reflective practitioners who can evaluate and critique their teaching practice and connect this practice effortlessly to research. In the classroom, trainees teach to an uncommonly high standard, so that the pupils they teach can flourish.

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About this inspection

Trainees are undertaking either a salaried or unsalaried postgraduate route into teaching in the secondary phase. The Postgraduate Certificate in Education aspect is offered in partnership with the University of Sussex.

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About this inspection

There are 23 apprentices across all subjects, studying the Level 6 Teacher apprenticeship.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with provider leaders with responsibility for curriculum, teaching and training and professional development across the trust and subject leaders. Inspectors also

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Team inspectors:

Guy Forbat, His Majesty's Inspector Mark Smith, His Majesty's Inspector Simon Conway, His Majesty's Inspector James Broadbridge, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other providers can learn from it.

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Strong standard

spoke with professional mentors, mentors and trainees. Inspectors visited trainees teaching and viewed recordings of their teaching, training and assessments.

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Strong standard

Inspectors spoke with the chief executive officer of the trust and the chair of the trust board.

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Strong standard

Since the last inspection, the provider has paused it primary routes into teaching.

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Strong standard

The inspection started on 26 January 2026. Inspectors returned on 10 March 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. The provider reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The provider is fulfilling the expected standard of training. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of training.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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