Revoking the Further Education Workforce Regulations

The Further Education Teachers’ Qualifications (England) Regulations 2007 and the Further Education Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development and Registration (England) Regulations 2007 (‘the 2007 Regulations’) both came into force on 1 September 2007. They set requirements for teachers:

• to hold or acquire, within a specified period of time, recognised qualifications
• to complete a period of professional formation leading to Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status
• to complete at least 30 hours of continuing professional development each year and provide an annual record to the Institute for Learning (IfL)
• to be registered with IfL and maintain that registration continuously

John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, announced an independent review, chaired by Lord Lingfield, and supported by a small panel of expert professionals led by David Sherlock. This independent review was in response to concerns about the current arrangements for achieving a professionalised workforce, in particular the role and payment of membership fees for the Institute for Learning (IfL).

The government welcomed the interim report and recommendations of the review ‘Professionalism in further education: interim report of the independent review panel established by the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning’. One of the main recommendations is to revoke the 2007 Regulations, replacing them with largely discretionary advice to employers on appropriate qualifications for staff and continuous professional development. As a result the government published this consultation seeking the sector’s views on revoking the regulations. This was before of the final report of the review, which considered professionalism more widely and reported in October 2012.