Date published: 21st August, 2019
Published by: Departmement for Education, Recruitment and Allocations Team
Dear Members, please see an email below that has been sent by the Recruitment and Allocations Team.
Thank you for your continued recruitment efforts over the summer period.
We are writing to remind you of some key actions which will help to ensure good candidate experience during the summer:
- Please ensure that you are corresponding with candidates and recording decisions on UCAS in a timely manner, keeping in mind you have 20 days before an application is rejected by default
- If you do decide to stop recruiting at any point, or if you fill all available places for a particular course, you must close them on Publish teacher training courses. There is a video guide on how to close your courses available on gov.uk.
We are encouraging you to recruit as deep into the cycle as possible to maximise offers for ITT2019, while also providing a good experience for candidates during this time. For those of you who opted-in to the Summer Recruitment Service, Teacher Training Advisers are now signposting candidates to open courses.
We have no doubt that you will be doing all you can to offer the best possible experience for your prospective trainees, and some of the following approaches shared with us by providers and lead schools might help to maximise take-up after acceptance:
- Offering pre-course information and support, e.g. preparation for the Skills Test or virtual learning environments
- Keeping in touch with candidates e.g. newsletter updates or targeted reminders
- Giving opportunities for candidates to experience the course and institution, for example through “taster mornings” before the start of the autumn term
- Facilitating networking events or opportunities e.g. in-person lunchtime gatherings or online chat groups
Thank you again for your efforts in recruiting the next generation of teachers, we look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure that those looking to begin training in ITT2019 have the best chance of finding a course which is right for them.
Kind regards,
Recruitment and Allocations Team