Assessment only route to QTS

• Age 3-7 (primary)
• Ages 5-11 (primary)
• Ages 7-14 (middle)
• Ages 11-19 (secondary)

The Assessment only route is suitable for experienced graduate instructors who have been teaching for 2 years or more and would like to complete a formal qualification to gain QTS. It is also suitable if you have substantial teaching experience in either the public or private sector but have not yet gained QTS.

• All entrants have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade 4 in GCSE English and mathematics 
• All those who intend to teach pupils aged 5 to 11 additionally have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade 4 in a GCSE science subject
• All candidates hold a first degree granted by a United Kingdom higher education institution or equivalent qualification
• suitability to teach
• ability to demonstrate meeting all the Teachers Standards without the need for any further training
• All candidates must have taught in at least 2 schools, with teaching experience across two or more consecutive age ranges; you must also show some knowledge and understanding of the age ranges immediately before and after the ones you are teaching; these include the 0-3 and post-19 age ranges, where applicable. 
• All candidates need to demonstrate sufficient breadth and variety of experience in schools or other settings to enable them to meet all of the Teachers Standards; 
  • need to have taught children and young people from different backgrounds, across the ability range in their chosen age ranges
  • gained experience of different approaches to teaching and learning and to school organisation and management
•  All candidates must provide satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service and Prohibition Order checks as part of the assessment process.
•  All candidates must have the health and physical capacity to teach and will not put children and young people at risk of harm. The Education (Health Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 sets out the activities that a teacher must be able to perform.

Applicants for the AO Route programme should have been teaching as an unqualified teacher for at least two years before application.

• Primary
• Secondary

The total cost of the AO route is:

• £2,500 (if your school is part of OBU’s wider partnership)
• £5,500 (outside of OBU’s wider partnership)

Fees can be paid in two instalments (at the Initial assessment and Final assessment) on request

If you are interested in applying for this route to gain QTS you will need a school to recommend you. If you need further information or clarification, please contact Jen Gadd, Interim Programme Lead for Initial Teacher Education (assessment-only-qts@brookes.ac.uk).