Eligibility criteria  

Please note that eligibility to undertake ATS, including the review of qualifications and individual applicant circumstances, can only be assessed as part of the formal application process.

 

To be eligible it is essential that applicants need to:

  • be a current member of ETF
  • hold a Level 5 or above initial teacher education qualification, on our eligible ITE list, for a minimum of four years (if holding QTS or QTLS status) or a minimum of five years (if you do not hold QTLS or QTS status) **
  • hold a Level 3 or above equivalent qualification in the main subject that you will be teaching for the period of the ATS programme **
  • hold an eligible Level 2 English and Level 2 maths qualification, or Level 3 if you teach discrete English and/or maths subjects **
  • be a teacher/trainer delivering teaching training programmes, with at least 4 years-experience post Initial Teacher Education
  • be teaching groups of learners (5 or more)* in a post-14 further education and skills setting for a minimum of 320 hours over (eg approximately 8hr per week for 40 weeks) 
  • be in a position to formally coach/mentor qualified colleagues in a teaching position as part of your role, and evidence the impact your interventions have had on the practice of your coachee
  • be able to undertake a small research project that has impact within your organisation at a departmental, middle or strategic level and results in improvement and increased quality in teaching and learning
  • be able to influence departmental, middle or senior level teaching and learning strategies within your organisation and evidence the outcome/impact
  • lead, support or engage in activities with colleagues beyond your classroom, e.g. delivering CPD for colleagues, resourcing teaching and learning, etc
  • be able to get an endorsement from a senior leader in your organisation.
  • appoint an experienced colleague as a dedicated mentor to support you throughout your ATS journey.

 

*In exceptional circumstances applicants may be able to start the developmental process leading to ATS with groups that have fewer than five learners. To do this the applicant must: 

  • Meet all standard ATS eligibility criteria 
  • Provide an employer agreement signed by a senior leader in the organisation and upload it in the application portfolio. The employer agreement will evidence the following:
    • Your organisation's support for you to access teaching and learning with groups over five or more learners during your developmental process. 
    • You may be teaching, co-teaching, or observing. This may be inside your own organisation, or in another FE and skills organisation. 
    • Complete an additional reflective validation activity during your developmental process leading to ATS, once you have received your ATS portfolio (not at application stage).  

 

 **If you have achieved any of your qualifications overseas an accompanying UK ENIC (formerly NARIC) statement of compatibility and certified translation of your certificate and transcript will be required.   

 

If you feel that you are already in a position to demonstrate meeting these criteria or will be in a position next academic year, please submit an application.