Our Values

As an independent Further Education organisation and mainly educators of 'wannabe' educators providing a range of training programmes to develop learning professionals, it is our duty to ensure that our adult learners on these programmes fully understand the requirements of the Institute for Learning (see attached pdf Review of continuing Professional Development) regarding the term 'dual professionalism' i.e. maintaining, improving and broadening relevant knowledge and skills in both subject specialism and teaching and training, so that it has a positive impact on practice and the learner experience.

The post-compulsory education and training (PCET) sector is rightly celebrated for its richness in diversity. Teachers, trainers and tutors working in further education (FE) colleges, work-based learning (WBL) providers and organisations supporting community learning and development (CLD) come from a variety of backgrounds, often entering teaching through non-traditional routes. Some will be graduates, many will have followed vocational pathways in developing their subject expertise, all are working in the sector primarily because they have expertise, skills and knowledge in specialist vocational and/or academic disciplines. Teaching practitioners in the post-compulsory education and training sector play a critical role in meeting the professional development needs of the workforce in all other fields.

The majority of teaching practitioners in post-compulsory education and training operate within the context of dual professionalism. Having excelled in their vocational or academic specialism in business, industry and commerce, they chose to pass on their skills and expertise to learners in their field. Qualified Teacher of Learning and Skills (QTLS) status is about more than the achievement of a recognised teaching qualification. In working towards a new professional identity for teaching practitioners, the Institute has due regard for the importance of continuing professional development (CPD) in ensuring teaching practitioners remain at the forefront of their vocational and/or academic specialism, whilst developing their skills in teaching and supporting learning.

Customer Impact

We continue to maintain and develop good contact with awarding bodies and sector skills councils for all the qualifications that we offer. This means that we can provide our learning professional with opportunities for being actively involved with their industry. We can also provide learners on programmes so that our assessors and teachers in training can work on the 'coal face' in their sectors using up to date approaches, materials and information.