London Metropolitan University

London Metropolitan University

Address: 166-220 Holloway Road, -, London, London, N7 8DB Unique reference number (URN): 70052

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture in which trainees feel valued and able to seek help when needed. Trainees know they can raise concerns openly, including about workload and personal circumstances, and that leaders will respond constructively. This helps trainees to feel comfortable and confident to share potential barriers to learning or wellbeing, including any special educational needs and/or disabilities. Trainees understand how to access support services, and leaders signpost internal and external sources where needed. This ensures that trainees, irrespective of their barriers or needs, feel supported to succeed.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders identify trainees’ needs early and take effective action to support them. Trainees who require additional academic or pastoral support receive tailored guidance that helps

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Expected standard

them to remain on track with the programme. Leaders respond sensitively when trainees face challenges, including those related to bereavement or financial pressures. Flexible, responsive arrangements, supported by regular communication with trainees and placement schools, enable trainees to continue on the programme.

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Expected standard

Similarly, trainees benefit from reasonable adjustments to university-based training and school placements where needed. Those involved in mentoring are suitably informed of trainees’ needs. They adapt their support appropriately so that trainees can take part fully and be successful in school-based practice.

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Expected standard

Leaders are strategic in their approaches to widening participation on their initial teacher education provision, including through the apprenticeship route.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders set clear expectations for trainees’ professional conduct. Trainees are very clear about the importance of regular attendance and engaging reflectively with their training. They meet these expectations consistently, approaching the programme with high levels of commitment and responding positively to feedback from mentors and tutors.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders place high emphasis on trainees’ personal development, mental health and wellbeing. From the outset, trainees benefit from high-quality pastoral care, both at the university and while on school placement. Trainees value this highly and feel confident in raising concerns. Trainees benefit from very effective support that enables them to remain engaged, continue their training and build their resilience as a teacher.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees receive particularly helpful guidance on how to manage workload. High expectations for trainees are thoughtfully balanced with realistic approaches to managing the challenges of combining academic study with planning and teaching on school placements. This message is reinforced throughout the programme. As a result, trainees, including those on the apprenticeship route, are very well prepared for the demands of early career teaching.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees demonstrate a very secure understanding of the professional behaviours needed in schools. They interact appropriately with pupils and colleagues and show growing confidence in managing the day-to-day demands of classroom life.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders make it clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are not tolerated. This contributes to a respectful and supportive culture across the partnership.

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Achievement Expected standard

Overall, trainees develop secure knowledge and skills to teach in the primary phase. They carefully plan purposeful lessons and establish classroom routines that support pupils’ learning. Trainees apply key principles from the initial teacher education curriculum in their day-to-day practice. For example, trainees use modelling, guided practice and adaptations to support different groups of pupils. In most cases, trainees manage behaviour effectively so that learning proceeds with minimal disruption.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees develop a clear understanding of their progress through the programme. They reflect on feedback from mentors and tutors. This enables them to identify relevant areas for improvement, including where they might need to strengthen their subject knowledge or refine explanations of pupils. This supports trainees’ steady progress over time. By the end of their training, most trainees are suitably prepared to begin teaching. They typically complete the programme and achieve qualified teacher status. This includes trainees who face barriers to learning or wellbeing. Nevertheless, there are occasions when the depth of trainees’ knowledge and the consistency with which they apply their learning are not developed as fully as they could be.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders have designed a coherent and suitably ambitious curriculum in the primary phase. It is informed by relevant research and gives clear emphasis to important areas such as behaviour management, early reading, mathematics, teaching pupils with varying needs and subject knowledge. Specific periods of integrated training and intensive training and practice (ITAP) are central features of the initial teacher education (ITE) curriculum. These provide trainees with clear models of effective practice that they can then apply in classrooms.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders have structured the curriculum for apprentices so that it aligns closely with trainees’ employment in schools. For example, apprentices are guided to draw directly on taught sessions in their day-to-day teaching, helping them connect theories with practice. This supports trainees to apply and embed key approaches, particularly in areas such as behaviour management and classroom routines.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

The curriculum is sequenced logically. Leaders introduce core concepts early and revisit them in increasing depth. For instance, the curriculum returns to ideas such as questioning and checking for understanding, helping trainees to connect and develop their learning over time. The curriculum prepares trainees well to support pupils who may face barriers to learning, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Trainees learn relevant strategies to adapt teaching and use these in their planning and teaching. Safeguarding is covered appropriately and revisited regularly. Trainees understand their responsibilities and know the actions to take if they have concerns about pupils’ wellbeing.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Generally, university- and school-based training align closely. In the most effective examples, mentors support trainees to revisit key content with and help them to apply this in their own lesson planning and teaching. For instance, trainees are encouraged to draw on recent training when teaching phonics or modelling mathematical methods. However, this alignment is not as consistent as it could be across all elements of the programme. Some school-based mentoring does not draw from a sufficiently precise understanding of the ITE curriculum, including the intended purpose of ITAP. This reduces how well some trainees are supported to make connections between taught sessions and classroom practice. While mentoring is supportive and valued by trainees, especially in managing the demands of classroom practice, variation in mentoring quality affects how consistently the programme builds trainees’ knowledge.

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Next steps

Leaders should develop the quality and oversight of mentoring so that it contributes consistently well to trainees’ progression through the programme, including in relation to developmental target setting and during the intensive training and practice aspects of the curriculum.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to strengthen how consistently the initial teacher education curriculum promotes the depth of trainees’ knowledge through the integration of theory and teaching practice so that trainees can consistently develop and apply highly relevant knowledge and teaching skills. Assessment of trainees’ progress is regular and appropriate. Trainees receive timely feedback, both from mentors and their tutors. Generally, this feedback is precise and linked to the ITE curriculum, enabling trainees to refine particular aspects of their teaching. However, the precision of targets is not consistent for trainees. This limits how sharply some trainees focus on improving their teaching skills.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders’ vision for the initial teacher education programme is shaped by a clear moral purpose. Their work is focused on preparing trainees to teach in London’s diverse urban contexts, while also ensuring that trainees are equipped to teach effectively in schools across the country. This is reflected in the design of the programme, including the development of an apprenticeship route that enables a wider range of trainees to enter the profession. Partnerships with placement schools are well established and generally support leaders’ work to ensure that trainees experience a coherent programme.

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Leadership Expected standard

Those responsible for oversight fulfil their roles appropriately. They maintain a suitable understanding of the provision. This includes supporting leaders in ensuring that statutory and non-statutory requirements are met, such as those related to safeguarding and safer recruitment.

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Leadership Expected standard

Staff and mentors receive effective professional learning to support them in their roles. In the main, this means that they contribute effectively to trainees’ development. However, some of leaders’ work to secure high-quality implementation across the programme is not as sharp as it could be. This is particularly the case in relation to addressing variation in the quality of mentoring and how effectively school placements reinforce trainees’ learning. Leaders’ evaluation of the impact of the mentoring programme is not consistently precise enough to reduce this variation fully. Leaders understand the main strengths of the provision and identify appropriate priorities for improvement, including strengthening consistency in mentoring and refining aspects of the curriculum.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders are mindful of workload and generally support staff and mentors to carry out their roles without undue burden. Appropriate processes are in place to address concerns where they arise.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders create a welcoming and highly inclusive culture in which trainees feel valued from the start. Leaders take decisive steps to enable trainees from a wide range of backgrounds to access and be successful in teacher training. This emphasis on inclusion is woven across all aspects of the training so that it is consistently and systematically prioritised. This enables leaders to ensure that trainees with additional barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing benefit from individualised support. Trainees are very well supported to reduce or overcome any obstacles they face and complete the course successfully.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff encourage trainees to share any needs they may have. Trainees feel that it is easy to access and ask for help. Leaders check whether trainees need adjustments and support early. For example, they discuss potential barriers during the application stage and then maintain an open and constructive dialogue about these as the course progresses. This enables staff to put highly effective and responsive support in place, including adjustments for trainees with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It also includes help for those facing other pressures, such as those related to accommodation or mental health needs.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff work closely with placement schools to consistently implement and refine any adjustments or approaches to support. Mentors support trainees sensitively when challenges arise. Trainees value this support highly and feel fully included in school life.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees typically gain a secure knowledge of the content they learn through the curriculum. For example, trainees generally develop a range of approaches to manage pupils’ behaviour, check pupils’ understanding and address misconceptions. Trainees also have a typically well-developed understanding of strategies to support pupils with a range of barriers to learning and/or their wellbeing, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Trainees generally apply this learning and embed it in their practice.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees also learn how to reflect on their teaching decisions in light of the educational theories they learn about. They develop a firm understanding of their strengths and priorities for improvement. However, a few aspects of trainees’ knowledge are not as well developed, such as their understanding of how to develop pupils’ numeracy and literacy across the curriculum.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees complete their postgraduate qualification. By the end of the course, they typically develop the knowledge and skills they need to be ready to enter the teaching profession in the secondary phase.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders have designed an ambitious and well-organised curriculum, with a clear focus on inclusion across the programme. It is built on appropriate and up-to-date research, which trainees typically learn well. They learn to draw on this research as a secure basis for their teaching.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Intensive training and practice (ITAP) elements have been designed to enhance trainees’ knowledge and application of foundational aspects of teaching, such as modelling and explanation, adaptive teaching and behaviour routines. However, at times, those involved in mentoring are not sufficiently well informed about the intended aims of ITAP and its role in supporting trainees to apply theory in their practice. This reduces the extent to which mentors can provide well-focused opportunities for trainees to further refine and develop their practice.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Other aspects of mentoring are typically based on a secure understanding of the curriculum more widely. As a result, mentoring reinforces trainees' learning, particularly in relation to developing and applying key subject knowledge. Overall, leaders ensure that trainees’ school-based training builds appropriately on the subject and professional studies content taught at the university.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders provide trainees with appropriate training on key aspects of effective teaching. This includes a distinctive focus on how pupils learn and how to meet the needs of pupils who may have additional learning barriers, including special educational needs and/or disabilities. Links between subject content and professional studies are well considered. For example, the curriculum supports trainees to consider general pedagogical approaches and how these might be implemented in their subject. Staff adapt the curriculum where needed, for example by providing extra support for trainees who need to deepen aspects of their subject knowledge.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders place a high priority on safeguarding within the initial teacher education curriculum. They provide clear and thorough information about safeguarding requirements. Trainees demonstrate a secure understanding of their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. They know the procedures to follow should concerns arise about a pupil's welfare. They put this into practice where needed during their school placements.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders set out clear expectations for the progress trainees should make at different points in the programme. Typically, this helps trainees to understand how well they are doing and what they need to improve. Trainees benefit from a range of feedback, both from mentors and university staff. This enables leaders to address gaps in trainees' knowledge. However, at times, these gaps are not addressed as early in the programme as they might be to enable trainees to strengthen and apply their knowledge.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders make sure that the inclusive strategy for the provision is shared and commonly understood by staff, partnership schools and trainees. They have clearly defined and ambitious aims for trainees to succeed on the course and to reflect the communities in which they work. Leaders work collaboratively with partnership schools and their trainees to gather their views about the impact of the provision. They take account of these views and use them to make changes which improve trainees' experiences and outcomes.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders have clear, well-designed processes to evaluate the quality of the programme in the secondary phase. They make generally well-considered decisions about how to maintain strengths and further improve aspects of the provision, based on a range of information they gather. In places, the actions leaders take to bring about improvements are not precise or timely enough, which means that some trainees have more variable experiences than leaders intend.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders have designed suitable systems to ensure that all those who teach, mentor and support trainees benefit from purposeful professional learning. This enables them to carry out their roles effectively. Leaders are in the process of building on these systems to further strengthen the consistency of mentoring and its role in helping trainees to broaden and apply their teaching knowledge.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders take steps to support staff, make them feel valued and ensure that their workload is manageable. They are careful not to create unnecessary burdens. This extends to mentors, who are provided with multiple opportunities and methods of completing training and additional support where they may benefit from it. Leaders have well-established systems to protect staff from bullying, discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have very high expectations of trainees’ professional behaviours. These expectations are communicated from the outset through recruitment processes, the taught

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Next steps

Leaders should strengthen how well mentoring supports the delivery of some elements of the initial teacher education curriculum, particularly in relation to intensive training and practice, including the research that underpins them, to further increase opportunities for trainees to apply and practise foundational and pivotal aspects of teaching.

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Next steps

Leaders should use insights from their quality assurance processes to adapt and refine the programme with greater precision and bring about sustainable improvements. curriculum and preparations for school-based placements. Trainees generally enact these well. For instance, they engage with wider school life and communicate with clarity and professionalism. Where trainees need support in this aspect of their development, university staff and mentors step in and provide additional guidance.

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Next steps

Trainees enjoy their course. They demonstrate commitment to their learning and typically attend well.

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Next steps

Leaders know trainees very well and provide high-quality, responsive pastoral care for them. Course leaders build highly positive relationships with trainees and support trainees’ confidence to ask for help if they need it. Trainees access support from a range of staff at the provider, in placement schools and from external organisations where required. Incidents of bullying and harassment of trainees are uncommon and managed effectively on the rare occasion when they do occur.

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Next steps

Leaders support trainees to develop strategies to manage their workload, for instance by planning ahead, prioritising and anticipating pressures. In the main, trainees are supported effectively to put this into practice. The provider increases trainees’ workload in stages throughout the year. This generally supports trainees to be ready for their career as a teacher.

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

Trainees are proud to begin their teaching careers in an environment where inclusion and equality are at the heart of their training. From the recruitment stage onwards, trainees’ individual circumstances are carefully considered. Any potential barriers to learning and wellbeing are reduced through effective, targeted support and careful adaptations to training. For example, those trainees experiencing financial difficulties are referred swiftly to appropriate support services, enabling them to access additional funding and develop budgeting strategies that work for them.

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

An ethos of care and openness empowers trainees to raise any concerns. Trainees speak highly of the support they receive. They recognise that they learn in a safe, supportive environment where they are valued and where their self-belief is fostered. Trainees in both the primary and secondary phases benefit from an effectively sequenced and well-designed curriculum, underpinned by purposeful research to inform practice. Across both centre-based training and school placements, trainees are taught to reflect on their learning. Trainees typically acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in either the primary or secondary phase. On occasion, guidance and support on school placements does not connect as well as it could do with trainees’ learning in university-led training. This is particularly the case with the intensive training and practice curriculum elements. Where this occurs, mentoring does not maximise opportunities for trainees to

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

apply and embed foundational concepts about teaching in their phase or subject.

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

Trainees are well prepared to teach pupils with a wide range of needs and to manage behaviour effectively. They observe expert practice, analyse what they have seen and apply behaviour strategies and routines with growing success. Trainees have a secure understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping pupils safe.

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

Trainees demonstrate integrity and a commitment to the teaching profession. They develop resilience as well as an understanding of the challenges they may encounter as early career teachers. Consequently, they are well prepared for the next stage of their careers and have a clear sense of belonging within the teaching community.

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About this inspection

Trainees in the primary and secondary phases undertake the postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) with qualified teacher status. The provider also offers a postgraduate apprenticeship route in the primary phase in partnership with 3 training partners. There are 4 pathways on the primary route: primary 3 to 7, primary 5 to 11, primary 7 to 11 and primary 5 to 11 with special educational needs and disabilities.

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About this inspection

In total, there are 32 apprentices on the primary route and 28 primary trainees on the PGCE route.

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About this inspection

The secondary PGCE route currently has 128 trainees.

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About this inspection

The provider offers the assessment-only route to candidates in the primary and secondary phases. Typically, the number of trainees on this route is low.

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About this inspection

Since the previous inspection, the provider has expanded the range of subject specialisms available in the secondary phase.

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About this inspection

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

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About this inspection

Inspectors met with partnership leaders, including the Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Social Professions, leaders for the primary and secondary phases, representatives with responsibility for governance and the vice chancellor of the university. They also spoke with wider stakeholders, including lead mentors, mentors, trainees and early career teachers, during the inspection.

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Overall lead inspector:

Deborah Walters, His Majesty's Inspector

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Secondary phase lead inspector:

Rebecca Iles-Smith, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Sacha Husnu-Beresford, His Majesty's Inspector Simon Conway, His Majesty's Inspector Susan Maguire, His Majesty's Inspector Robert Grice, His Majesty's Inspector Eleanor Ross, 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

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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