Bath Spa University has retained its ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted grade for educating trainee secondary school teachers.
Bath Spa University’s Newton Park Campus | Photo © Bath Spa University
For primary trainees, the university is rated as Good.
The team of nine who carried out an Ofsted inspection of Bath Spa’s Initial Teacher Education (ITE) from 29th January to 1st February have now published their report.
There are 273 trainees enrolled in the academic year 2023/24 at the university, based at Newton Park. This includes 137 primary trainees and 136 secondary trainees.
The university works with 207 schools, most of which are in the South West and most currently have either a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating.
Ofsted visited more than 20 schools as part of their inspection, meeting with 66 trainees and 33 early career teachers.
The inspectors said: “The Bath Spa ITE partnership believes that all children deserve the very best teachers. Trainees are referred to as ‘Bath Spa Teachers’.
“They are expected to maintain high professional standards from the start. Their ambitious mindset is reflected in the views of school leaders, who often remark on the high calibre of trainees.”
The report highlights that the partnership has constructed an “exceptional” curriculum for secondary trainees, which consistently enables them to become confident teachers of their respective subjects.
Trainees are said to be overwhelmingly positive about the guidance and support they receive from their mentors.
Of the primary phase, the Ofsted team noted: “The partnership’s ambitious curriculum for primary ITE fully includes the core content framework and is informed by up-to-date research.
“Passionate and knowledgeable academic tutors draw on this research to develop reflective, curious and proactive trainees, who are professional from the start. Trainees know their strengths and what they could do to try to improve their practice further.”
When Bath Spa University’s ITE provision was last inspected in 2015, both primary and secondary phases were judged as Outstanding.
