United Teaching National SCITT

United Teaching National SCITT

Address: Paddington Academy, 50 Marylands Road, London, London, W9 2DR Unique reference number (URN): 70333

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees in the primary phase begin their teaching career equipped with deeply engrained knowledge and skills, at a standard far beyond what might be expected. This enables them to flourish in their teaching. Trainees learn to become highly critical thinkers. They are masterful in the way in which they use their knowledge of educational research to make extremely effective choices which, in turn, benefit pupils. The expertly focused feedback that trainees receive throughout the course means they know exactly the areas to prioritise for improvement. Trainees' reflection and subsequent refinement of practice become firmly embedded habits. Consequently, trainees swiftly adjust their approaches, where needed, to manage behaviour and to support pupils' learning effectively.

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees leave the course with a deep understanding of the realities of teaching and how to ably teach pupils across all subjects in the primary phase. This includes pupils who are vulnerable or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees (including those with SEND) achieve remarkably well. They successfully gain the qualifications they need to teach primary-age pupils.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The highly sophisticated curriculum is expertly structured. Knowledge and skills are organised in a logical, methodical way. Each part of the programme builds firmly on previous learning and feeds into upcoming content seamlessly. For example, the knowledge trainees learn in the summer institute precisely informs the first intensive teaching and practice (ITAP) sequence. Trainees' learning from the first ITAP is developed intelligently through subsequent ITAP themes. This knowledge flawlessly feeds into trainees' externally assessed pieces of work.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The curriculum is very well informed by extensive high-quality, pertinent research regarding how pupils learn and develop from the early years onwards. Trainees know their legal responsibilities with regard to safeguarding pupils’ welfare. The mandatory requirements of initial teacher education (ITE) are comprehensively embedded and skilfully extended. For example, trainees critically engage with important and wide-ranging theories linked to adapting teaching to support pupils with a range of needs. As the training programme progresses, trainees expand this understanding to a remarkable level. They learn to recognise barriers to learning that may impact pupils on a long and short-term basis. Trainees are taught to nimbly adapt teaching and to structure learning for pupils, in order to minimise any barriers.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The level of integration across all elements of the training programme is particularly noteworthy. For example, leaders ensure that placement schools align their professional development programmes with the core ITE curriculum. The school and centre-based training come together as one, for all subjects in the primary phase.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Teacher educators provide highly impactful support to enable trainees to apply the taught curriculum. Leaders' excellent collaboration and support mean that teacher educators carry out their responsibilities with absolute precision. Teacher educators and school-based mentors know exactly what trainees need to know and be able to do at each stage of their training. The quality of mentoring is impressive, with mentors knowing adeptly how to best support trainees to implement their learning. They provide highly focused opportunities for trainees to practise, refine and enhance their skills. Any struggles trainees may encounter are addressed in a timely, encouraging and highly supportive way.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The expert, precise and completely seamless use of assessment throughout the programme is another area of significant strength. Leaders ensure this is a cultural and integral part of the curriculum. This results in particularly helpful feedback that trainees instantly use to further refine their teaching.

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Inclusion Exceptional

From the recruitment stage onwards, leaders place a sharp focus on attracting applicants from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. For example, leaders have designed intentionally inclusive and accessible marketing material to champion diversity and to attract trainees with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Inclusion Exceptional

From initial contact, trainees are enveloped by a sophisticated network of care and support. All teacher educators play an effective and pivotal role in supporting trainees to feel welcome and valued. From the outset, leaders successfully offer multiple opportunities for trainees to disclose any potential barriers to learning, including SEND. The high-quality training received by teacher educators means that they recognise undisclosed barriers swiftly. Consequently, any necessary adjustments and adaptations are put in place without delay. These have a transformational impact on the experiences of individual trainees.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Leaders go to great lengths to support trainees' learning. Themes shared during weekly e- bulletins are strategically timed, based on the provider’s analysis of previous trainee feedback. For example, leaders know the times of the year when trainees are likely to feel more anxious and tailor their work accordingly. These bulletins provide key learning reminders, access to internal and external support and specifically themed motivational messages.

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Leadership Exceptional

The provision is underpinned by leaders’ commendable ambition that across England, all pupils should have access to high quality teaching. This vision drives leaders’ actions in contributing to local and national needs. Leaders analyse national teacher training provision to identify and support regions where teacher training and recruitment proves challenging. They use this information to establish localised collaborative partnerships. This improves teacher recruitment and seeks to transform the lives of pupils who face barriers and disadvantage.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders extend their ambitious vision to the stakeholders they work with. Stakeholders subscribe fully to this continued pursuit of excellence. The provider uses its pioneering knowledge and expertise to collaborate with many organisations involved in teacher training. This includes other national training providers and designers of widely recognised online learning platforms.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders draw on national and international research and expertise. This is used skilfully to inform, refine and enhance the professional learning curriculum for staff and mentors. Leaders ensure that staff and mentor training precisely meets their needs and that it has a significant impact on the experience of trainees.

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Leadership Exceptional

Alongside robust quality assurance, leaders embed a highly positive culture of meticulous reflection and learning. Consequently, they develop a precise view of the training programme's strengths and act swiftly and appropriately to address priorities for improvement. All decisions are firmly rooted in trainees' best interests.

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Leadership Exceptional

The governing body and leaders work very successfully together to relentlessly drive their ambitious vision forward. The governing body provides exacting support and challenge, ensuring the provision meets the statutory duties for delivering primary teacher training. This includes the legal requirement to recruit trainees with due regard to safeguarding. Leaders have created a highly positive environment where staff are valued and free from discrimination, fully supported and proud to work.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The wellbeing of trainees is of the utmost importance at this provider. Leaders ensure that every trainee has access to multiple layers of intuitive support and advice. This includes motivational reminders through e-bulletins, access to a range of specially trained lead mentors and timely drop-in sessions. Leaders also provide highly bespoke pastoral support and advice where needed. The multiple avenues of communication mean that trainee concerns are quickly identified and acted on diligently. This includes incidents of bullying, harassment and intimidation in the unlikely event they occur.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Trainees quickly gain a deep understanding of the professional behaviours expected of a teacher. From the outset, they receive highly purposeful and relevant information regarding the expectations of behaviour, commitment to learning and attendance. Leaders structure this content precisely, planning for any misconceptions that may arise for different groups of trainees at specific stages. Leaders use their very high levels of skill and expertise to decide the most important information trainees should learn and when. For example, they anticipate misunderstandings about behaviour expectations that some international trainees may encounter. Therefore, leaders provide trainees with clear, well-timed information to pre-empt any issues before they arise.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The work of leaders and staff has a transformational impact in providing trainees with strategies to manage workload, so they are fully ready for their careers in teaching. This also supports trainees to demonstrate commendable levels of resilience.

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees in the secondary phase develop a remarkably deep understanding of teaching their subject. They articulate their learning with high levels of precision. Trainees are extremely confident across all areas of the curriculum. This includes managing pupils’ behaviour, safeguarding, the fundamentals of highly effective learning and their subject-specific knowledge. Trainees apply their learning in the classroom with expertise, demonstrating knowledge and skills well beyond their levels of experience.

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Achievement Exceptional

Trainees develop extraordinary levels of independence and critical thought. They are highly reflective. Trainees analyse and critique their learning forensically, informed by the wide ranging and high-quality research that they access and then apply. This enables them to make highly effective, autonomous choices in the classroom.

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Achievement Exceptional

The completion rate for trainees is very high. By the end of the programme, trainees are not just prepared for their next stage in employment, they are equipped with a deep and perceptive understanding of how to excel as lifelong career teachers. This is commended by employers and leaders in partner schools.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The curriculum is highly ambitious. Leaders continuously reflect on, and refine, the curriculum to ensure that all trainees, regardless of their starting points, can excel. High- quality research underpins every aspect of the curriculum. The meticulous design, alongside the high levels of expertise of teacher educators, ensure that trainees not only understand this research but systematically critique, analyse and reflect on it. The curriculum supports trainees extremely well to rapidly develop independence and make adept choices on how to successfully implement this research in their practice.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The expertly designed curriculum ensures that trainees deepen their expertise over time. The summer institute covers a range of well-chosen topics, such as teacher presence, to prepare trainees to confidently begin their school placements. Trainees develop their knowledge and understanding with increasing complexity, building precisely on prior learning.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

All areas of the curriculum are integrated with remarkable precision. The core taught curriculum, subject masterclasses, intensive training and practice and postgraduate certificate in education elements complement and inform each other coherently. The foci for weekly school-based mentoring sessions are precisely aligned to what trainees learn in their training. Staff, mentors and trainees have a sharp understanding of the exact stage they are at in the curriculum, how this builds on prior learning and how to apply to their practice. Leaders work tirelessly with placement schools to ensure that their attuned support complements trainees’ course-based learning in both content and approach.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Teacher educators and subject leaders deliver training sessions with high levels of skill and expertise, which have a transformational impact on trainees’ understanding. Trainees learn a range of highly effective strategies to provide them with the skills to offer tailored support to pupils with a range of barriers to learning. They develop a firm understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities, including their role in ensuring pupils are kept safe.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

Staff are particularly skilful in checking trainees' understanding and addressing any misconceptions. They use a wide range of highly impactful strategies during in-person and online training sessions to find out what trainees know. A notable strength is the way in which trainees have regular opportunities to script, rehearse and complete well-thought-out scenarios. This ensures that they understand how to place learning into practice with precision.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Exceptional

The quality of mentoring is exemplary. Mentors are highly skilled and are unwaveringly consistent in their approach. They follow leaders’ systems and procedures meticulously. Target setting and guidance is precise and impactful, enabling trainees to make rapid progress in their skills and expertise.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Inclusion is the central pillar of the provider's programme and something staff are immensely proud of. The ‘team around the trainee’ approach means that trainees have an abundance of bespoke support. Staff swiftly identify any emerging barriers to trainees’ progress through the curriculum, or wider needs. There is a deep-rooted culture where trainees know they can ask for help whenever they need to. They benefit from weekly check-ins with multiple members of staff and unanimously experience the highest levels of care. This means that support is highly personalised and impactful. Leaders and staff are relentless in ensuring that needs are identified and met so that all trainees can flourish.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Trainee recruitment, by design, is intentionally inclusive. Leaders carefully remove any barriers to application or interview, and 'ambassadors' proudly promote the effectiveness of support on offer. From application to course completion, reasonable adjustments and other adaptations are identified and applied with precision. These are systematically reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are having the greatest possible impact. Staff across the provision are fully aware of trainees’ adaptations and ensure they are consistently put in place across all components of the programme. Trainees receive a wealth of information about internal and external support, which they are keen to take up.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders have an unapologetic drive for excellence in their provision. They have developed an impressive culture of continual self-reflection and improvement that wider staff buy into with enthusiasm and passion. Leaders have a comprehensive understanding of the strengths of their provision and the aspects they would like to develop further. They are relentless in making small adjustments across the programme to ensure that they are providing the best possible experience for their trainees.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders work highly effectively with external partners in a way that benefits trainees at the provider and schools across the country. They use national experts to support the programme and they contribute to national teacher training priorities. All staff and mentors, including those with a great deal of experience, benefit from excellent professional learning to further deepen their skills and expertise. This leads to highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff, who are dedicated to becoming pioneers in their field.

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Leadership Exceptional

Leaders have developed highly precise and succinct systems and procedures across the organisation. All staff and partners have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities and the high expectations leaders have of them. This leads to exemplary levels of consistency across the provider. The streamlined approach to systems also ensures that the workload and wellbeing of staff are prioritised. Staff are effusive about how well they are supported by leaders. There is a clear process to follow if any staff were to have concerns about bullying or discrimination.

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Leadership Exceptional

Those who are responsible for overseeing the provision provide sector expertise and a full understanding of their responsibilities, including ensuring the required statutory duties are met. They stringently hold leaders to account and provide support and challenge when required. They ensure that mandatory compliance of initial teacher training criteria is applied to the programme. Leaders fully understand and follow all safer recruitment practices.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Leaders have the absolute highest of expectations for trainees’ professional behaviours from the start of the course. They have several mechanisms in place to pre-empt any concerns and to proactively support trainees. This means that trainees have similarly high expectations of their own professional behaviours and attendance. Leaders ensure that any concerns about bullying or discrimination towards trainees would be swiftly addressed, if these were raised.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Pastoral support is commendable. Leaders have a remarkable depth of understanding of each of their trainees. Each lead mentor is responsible for the welfare of a group of trainees who are viewed as a ‘cohort within a cohort’. This enables a highly personalised approach to ensuring that trainees’ wellbeing and mental health are supported. For example, the weekly e-bulletin is carefully tailored to respond to trainee queries. The provider has a well-timed online drop-in for any trainees feeling anxious about the following day. This extensive offer ensures that trainees continue to thrive in a highly supportive environment.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Trainees are extremely well prepared for the rigours of the next stage of their career. Leaders ensure that they learn how to manage their own workload. Trainees display high levels of resilience and a plethora of strategies to ensure they are ready to thrive as an early career teacher.

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

Trainees are proud and immensely grateful to be part of United Teaching National School Centred Initial Teacher Training. From the summer institute onwards, trainees gain a realistic view of what to expect from a career in teaching. They are introduced to the mantra that asking for help is a strength. The provider's highly individualised approach to trainee workload and wellbeing means that scaffolds of support are removed at exactly the right time for each trainee. Therefore, trainees achieve remarkably well. They fully embody the provider's values of hard work, integrity and excellence.

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

Trainees are skilfully prepared to manage pupil behaviour and to teach pupils with barriers to learning. Trainees explain that ‘we learn to look at the pupils in front of us'. Trainees understand that the landscape of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is ever changing, while recognising that 'SEND needs are lifelong'. Trainees are very astute and know that some pupil barriers, such as those linked to disadvantage, can be more changeable over time.

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

Without fail, staff offer unwavering levels of trainee support. Trainees are confident that leaders and mentors ‘check in’, ‘listen’, ‘validate’ and ‘follow up’ on any worries or concerns. Staff are highly attuned to trainees’ needs and take pre-emptive action to reduce barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. There are multiple layers of support available, including the 'Sunday evening' online drop-in. Trainees actively engage with this personalised offer. It contributes to the provider’s palpable culture of safety and belonging for trainees.

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

Trainees benefit from a meticulously planned curriculum. It brings intensive training and support, professional, subject and postgraduate certificate in education studies together seamlessly. Trainees develop an impressive understanding of their responsibility to keep children safe. They benefit from extensive input on the importance of professional behaviours. As a result, trainees are remarkably well prepared for their early teaching careers. They demonstrate commendable levels of resilience and huge excitement about the positive challenges that lie ahead of them.

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About this inspection

United Teaching National School Centred Initial Teacher Training provides programmes for the one-year school graduate-entry (salaried and non-salaried) route, the postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) route and the level 6 postgraduate teaching apprenticeship route.

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About this inspection

The PGCE route is planned and delivered with Bath Spa University.

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About this inspection

There are 62 trainees in the primary phase, and 52 of these are working towards the level 6 teacher apprenticeship standard.

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About this inspection

There are 335 trainees in the secondary phase, and 98 of these are working towards the level 6 teacher apprenticeship standard.

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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, including the accountable officer, leaders of the primary and secondary phases and representatives of governance. They also spoke with wider stakeholders, including lead mentors, mentors and trainees during the inspection.

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Team inspectors:

Samantha Ingram, His Majesty's Inspector Annabel Davies, His Majesty's Inspector Sam Hainey, His Majesty's Inspector Guy Forbat, His Majesty's Inspector Una Buckley, His Majesty's Inspector Luke Stubbles, His Majesty's Inspector Deborah Walters, 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

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

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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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