Education & Children's Social Care Associates (ECSCAs) - Supporting ITT Quality and Compliance

Tender description

See 'Attachments' for a word version of this description. DfE's ITT Accreditation and Performance team supports one of the DfE departmental priorities to 'develop a great workforce - with great leadership'. The Accreditation and Performance team at DfE aims to ensure the supply of high quality ITT provision, by: accrediting new ITT providers; monitoring and intervening where poor ITT provider performance is identified; implementing changes to the ITT provider market triggered by sector change and ministerial priorities; and mitigating risks to ITT provision through the evaluation and reporting of sector issues and trends. Therefore, DfE is looking to procure up to six Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Education & Children's Social Care Associates (ECSCAs) to provide resource and capacity in the field to ensure a responsive approach to monitoring and supporting the ITT sector. As part of a support package for recently accredited and established ITT providers, ECSCA's will work with DfE/NCTL to mitigate risks throughout the ITT provider lifecycle and encourage ITT providers to be self-improving by: • Visiting prospective, recently accredited and experienced ITT providers to quality assure ITT provision in line with the statutory ITT criteria, and DfE/NCTL policies and initiatives; • providing DfE/NCTL with intelligence regarding non-compliant providers or poor quality practice, and reporting on improvements required within ITT provision in order to address non-compliance and improve quality; • advising the sector on best practice in line with current government priorities (e.g. phonics, extremism and safeguarding). DfE would provide regular briefings to facilitate this work; • visiting ITT providers, to support the migration, closure or withdrawal of ITT accreditation, to ensure continuation of high quality ITT for trainees; • supporting and providing intelligence on pilot initiatives, including subject-specific national SCITTs; • supporting and monitoring ITT providers offering ITT routes that currently carry innovation status, to ensure continued high quality ITT provision or identify areas of non-compliance; • collating, reporting and providing data and information, to inform DfE policy and delivery teams, including flagging of risks and issues; • working with NCTL/DfE to improve communications with all providers and promoting development opportunities for ITT providers and their staff to build capacity; • working with NCTL/DfE to contribute field knowledge to the development and implementation of a new ITT Data Management system (DMS); • supporting DfE/NCTL in bespoke activities aimed at improving the quality of ITT provision. DfE/NCTL requires experienced ITT professionals, who have knowledge and experience of the current Ofsted inspection frameworks, in particular, the Ofsted Initial Teacher Education Framework. The key drivers for this requirement are: • DfE/NCTL's remit for the quality assurance of the performance of accredited ITT