In the first quarter of 2011, TUI participated in a public consultation process in respect of new policy and practice developments for teacher education into the future. This involved TUI preparing a detailed written submission to the Teaching Council and participation in public consultation seminars. Following on from the public consultation the Teaching Council published a Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education together with New Accreditation Criteria for Teacher Education Programmes on the 7th July. Both of these policy statements have wide ranging implications for the practice of teachers and planning by schools which will have to be the subject of detailed discussions in the appropriate fora as the policy ideas transact into practice.

The policy documents address areas of particular concern to TUI including:

• Changing entry requirement into initial teacher education programmes (ITE)
• Extension of duration of the PGDE with a stronger focus on school placement
• Induction support for new teachers
• CPD arrangements for practicing teachers.