There is a wide range of roles and job titles linked to teaching in the adult and further education (FE) and training sector. These include teachers, trainers, lecturers, tutors, mentors, coaches and workplace supervisors, who may work for different types of education and training provider. They also teach across a wide range of academic and vocational areas and from basic skills through to degree or higher level qualifications, and are often referred to as ‘dual professionals’, being skilled as both teachers and technical professionals in their own right. In this article, the term ‘teachers’ encompasses all such roles and contexts. 

The majority of teachers in the sector train in-service after obtaining a post. The article on ‘Initial Education’ describes the academic awards, certificates and diplomas which they can gain during this training. This article describes other in-service staff development activities which are designed to improve practice, and which are usually identified during the performance management process. It also covers the professional formation for Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and for Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) for teachers in the sector.

CPD and performance management 

There is no legal requirement for teachers in further education (FE) to undertake continuing professional development (CPD)

In 2015/16, on average, FE teachers spent 15 hours per year on CPD, as stated on page 13 of the 2018 Department for Education (DfE) research report Teaching, Leadership and Governance in Further Education. The report also found that collaborative forms of CPD are most valued by teachers. These can include peer observations, formal and informal networks, coaching and mentoring and action research. It also showed that professional development centred on teachers’ subject specialism is important - including through coaching and mentoring.

A number of key stakeholder bodies support FE teachers in their CPD. Examples of the ways in which they do this are set out below.

Enhancing the quality, professionalism and efficiency of the FE and training workforce has been a priority for government, which established the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) in October 2013. The ETF supports employers in the FE and training sector and introduced revised Professional Standards for the FE workforce in 2014. These support both initial education and professional development.

In its 2014 report, Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Further Education and Skills, Ofsted (the inspectorate) recommended that the Professional Standards were used as the basis for promoting consistently good or better practice in performance management and staff development across the adult and further education sector (page 8). The report stated that rigorous performance management, high quality staff development, high levels of accountability for the quality of teaching, and highly effective self-evaluation were all essential elements in ensuring sustained excellent practice (page 6). 

Collective agreements covering a broad range of issues in FE are negotiated by the National Joint Forum (NJF), in which the employers’ organisation - the Association of Colleges (AoC), and a number of recognised trade unions, participate. The agreements represent minimum standards to be improved on and implemented locally. They include role outlines for teachers, advanced teachers, and leadership and management, which state that teachers and leaders / managers should:

• review and monitor their own performance, using a variety of means and indicators; 
• identify their own professional development needs and agree how these should be met; 
• engage in continuous professional development; and
• take actions to improve; monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions to improve.  

The Association of Colleges (AoC), which represents the interests of further education (FE) colleges, recommends in its 2014 guidance Effective Performance Management – Driving College Improvement that colleges should consider the following key elements in relation to  CPD (page 14):

a)    it should be embedded throughout the performance management system to improve teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for students;

b)    line managers should be trained to have the necessary people management skills and be equipped to effectively motivate and manage teams;

c)    training and development opportunities should allow staff to learn, enhance, and continuously develop their skills and knowledge;

d)    staff should be equipped to manage challenging behaviour and assist students with special educational needs or support needs;

e)    talent should be nurtured through training and development to encourage progression;

f)    the impact of CPD should be monitored to assure its effectiveness;

g)    success should be celebrated and good practice shared with colleagues.

Typically, performance management processes involve: 

• planning and defining expectations and setting personal objectives;
• implementation and action;
• monitoring performance;
• reviewing performance.

Recommended guidelines (2004) providing further information on what the performance management process in FE colleges should involve are available on the University and College Union (UCU) website.

Professional formation leading to QTLS 

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status is a post-qualification process that enables teachers to demonstrate, through their professional practice:

• the ability to use effectively the skills and knowledge acquired whilst training to be a teacher; 
• their application of the occupational standards required of a teacher.

QTLS is not a statutory requirement for teaching in further education (FE) and training settings, but is intended to support professional development and future career progression. It is conferred by the Society for Education and Training (SET), which is the professional membership organisation for practitioners working in the FE sector.

QTLS is available to teachers with a Level 5 qualification to teach in the sector (see the article on ‘Initial Education’), and who are members of SET. It is a process of professional formation underpinned by the Professional Standards, which requires teachers to reflect on their practice and provide evidence to demonstrate how they have developed their knowledge and skills. The time taken to achieve QTLS status varies depending on circumstances, including the individual’s length of experience and whether they have a full-time or part-time (fractional) teaching role. Teachers must, though, allow at least four months to prepare and submit their application.

By completing annual continuing professional development and adhering to SET’s Code of Professional Practice, teachers with QTLS are also included on SET’s professional register and can use the designatory letters QTLS.

In addition, teachers with QTLS status, membership of SET, and Level 2 or higher literacy and numeracy qualifications are eligible to work as qualified teachers in schools in England.

Further information on QTLS and on the professional formation process is available on the SET website.

Advanced Teacher Status 

Advanced Teachers Status (ATS) recognises experienced teaching professionals in further education (FE) and training who can demonstrate:

• mastery in teaching;
• an exemplary degree of subject knowledge in their area of professional expertise;
• effectiveness in working collaboratively to improve teaching standards among their peers or within their organisation.

Like Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, ATS is conferred by the Society for Education and Training (SET) to its professional members, and is underpinned by the Professional Standards for teachers in FE and training. To be eligible to apply for ATS, applicants must:

• be current members of SET;
• have held QTLS status for at least a year;
• have held an initial teacher education qualification for at least four years;
• be teaching or training in a post-14 setting for an average of eight hours a week (or equivalent annualised hours) for the duration of undertaking ATS.

To achieve ATS, teachers submit an online portfolio of evidence showing significant professional development activity and demonstrating mastery in teaching.

Like QTLS status, as a professional accreditation, achievement of ATS can help individual teachers to progress to more senior roles. Introduced on 1 October 2017, it has been developed to support the Government’s continued focus on improving the quality of the teaching profession in the further education, training and skills sector.In November 2018, SET announced that those who achieve ATS will automatically be conferred with the Chartered Teacher designation, which recognises the knowledge, skills and behaviours of excellent teachers. Chartered Teacher status is conferred by the Chartered College of Teaching, the chartered professional body for the teaching profession established in 2017. The SET website provides further information on Advanced Teacher Status.

Education and Training Foundation 

Raising the quality and professionalism of teachers across the further education (FE) and training sector was the impetus for the establishment of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) in October 2013. 

The ETF is funded via a grant from the Department for Education and by its commercial income. The terms and conditions of the grant offer are set out in an annual grant letter. The 2018/19 letter lists the objectives for which the grant is paid. These include:

a)    activity to help improve the quality of the FE teacher and leadership professions;

b)    a wide range of activity in the area of basic skills (English, maths and ICT), such as developing a flexible continuing professional development (CPD) offer to help teachers to improve delivery of maths, English and wider teaching, learning and assessment;

c)    workforce development in the area of special educational needs and disability.

The ETF also manages the ‘Taking Teaching Further’ initiative, one of the long-term aims of which is to increase the opportunity for industry-related CPD for FE teachers. Introduced by the Department for Education in June 2018, the initiative seeks to attract expert industry professionals to work in FE.

The ETF provides resources to support CPD, in particular through the Foundation Online Learning and Excellence Gateway websites. It offers a range of CPD courses and resources to, for example, support the teaching of maths and the teaching of digital skills;  support apprenticeships; and to support the introduction of T-Levels, new technical qualifications for 16-to 19-year-olds which will be introduced from 2020/21. Further information is available via the CPD pages of the ETF website. The ETF also provides an online Leadership Hub offering skills development for leaders, managers and those involved in governance in the sector.

Article last reviewed April 2021.