ITE Curriculum
Welcome to Secondary teacher training. Birmingham City University is one of the largest initial teacher training providers in the region and many of our trainee teachers live in the region, attended schools in the region and will stay in the West Midlands to work in schools in their localities. Over 200 early career teachers graduate from our primary and early years programmes every year, so we take our responsibility for working in partnership with schools very seriously as we know that every teacher makes a difference to pupils’ lives.
ITE Curriculum at BCU
The Birmingham City University Curriculum encompasses the full entitlement described in the DfE Initial Teacher Training Framework as well as integrating additional analysis and critique of theory, research and expert practice. We recognise that it is an entitlement of all trainees to work with, and learn from expert colleagues, as they practise, rehearse and refine approaches. We give high importance to mentoring that ensures trainees receive high quality, clear and well-structured feedback from expert colleagues in faculty and across the BCU regional partnership. We believe that the quality of teaching is the most important factor in improving outcomes for pupils, and the quality of training enables quality trainees to achieve this.
From September 2025, the ITTECF sets out the entitlement of every trainee and early career teacher (ECT) to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and to the mentoring and support from expert colleagues they should receive throughout the three or more years at the start of their career. (ITTECF, 2024:4)
BCU ITE Curriculum Themes
The key factor in judging the quality of teaching over time, is the impact teaching has on the quality of learning of pupils and the progress they make.
BCU Secondary Associate Teachers’ teaching will be formatively assessed in relation to our ITE Curriculum Themes.
The Teachers’ Standards provide an end-point assessment for qualified teacher status (QTS). All aspects of the Teachers' Standards are embedded in our ITE Curriculum but are not overtly assessed until the end of the PGCE year when the Associate teachers are considered for QTS.
Our ITE curriculum is compliant with the ITT Core Curriculum Framework (DfE, 2019) ITT Core Content Framework - DfE 2019.
The BCU ITE Curriculum Themes at linked to the ITT Core Content Framework BCU Themes linked to CCF
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BCU ITE Curriculum Themes are:
A. Associate Teachers use critical enquiry and research-informed practice to develop their understanding of effective teaching and learning.
B. Associate Teacher’s classroom practice establishes effective behaviour management through the use of high expectations and awareness of pupil wellbeing.
C. Associate Teachers know more, remember more and apply subject knowledge and subject-specific pedagogy to impact on pupils’ progress
D. Associate Teachers use knowledge about how pupils learn to plan and assess learning to ensure that all pupils make progress.
E. Associate Teachers implement effective adaptive teaching approaches to support all learners, including SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and EAL (English as Additional Language) learners.
F. Associate Teachers demonstrate professional behaviours and contribute effectively to the wider life of the school.
ITaP
Intensive training and practice (ITaP) is a specific and focused element of the teacher training curriculum.
The adaptation of five-stage framework, drawn from research by Grossman (2018) on teaching core practices to trainees supported the design of our ITaP models and the creation of a tightly co-ordinated set of activities that bridge pedagogical theory and teaching practice. The activities chosen to address each of the five elements of the framework are a guide and may vary between ITaPs.
Each aspect of the framework is made explicit to the trainees.