Guidance
Teachers & Staffing
Advanced Skills
Teachers
Headteachers,
Teachers, Chairs
of Governors and
LEA co-ordinators
Published: October 2001
Ref: DfES 0755/2001
Promoting Excellence
Related Documents:
Document DfES 0255:
The Standards Fund 2001–02
Current School Teachers’ Pay
and Conditions Document
and Guidance
Advanced Skills Teachers
Contents
What is an Advanced Skills Teacher?
3
Why do we need Advanced Skills Teachers?
3
What are the signs of excellence?
4
Who can become an Advanced Skills Teacher?
5
ASTs in action
6
What does being an AST involve?
7
ASTs in action
8
A commitment to Outreach
9
ASTs in action
9
How does Outreach work?
10
ASTs in action
10
When is Outreach not compulsory?
11
What is the Pay Scale for ASTs?
11
What are the Conditions of Service?
12
What are the steps to becoming an AST?
12
Contents of a Portfolio
13
How are AST posts funded?
14
ASTs and the Performance Threshold
14
1
Advanced Skills Teachers
Advanced Skills Teachers:
WHAT IS AN ADVANCED SKILLS TEACHER?
An Advanced Skills Teacher is an excellent teacher who achieves the
very highest standards of classroom practice and who is paid to share
his or her skills and experience with other teachers.
Growing numbers of Advanced Skills Teachers are working in schools around
the country, helping established teachers as well as those new to the profession.
WHY DO WE NEED ADVANCED SKILLS TEACHERS?
We need to recognise and retain the best teachers. Until recently, promotion
into management has been the typical career route for many of them.
The Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) pathway offers teachers who want to stay in
the classroom a new career route. AST posts concentrate on good teaching and
benefit the profession by helping to raise standards more widely, both within and
beyond the teacher’s school. Colleagues will have an opportunity to learn from
best practices, build on strengths and look at areas for development. With this
new career pathway it is now possible for excellent classroom practitioners to
progress as class teachers without having to take on management responsibilities
and to be rewarded accordingly.
Together with the performance threshold and the new fast track
initiative, it means more career progression opportunities for the
best teachers.
3
Advanced Skills Teachers
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF EXCELLENCE?
High level skills in teaching, classroom management and maintaining discipline.
Quality of planning, assessment and evaluation.
Command of subject knowledge.
Understanding of pupils.
High expectations of themselves and their pupils.
Excellent progress.
Ability to give high quality advice and support to other teachers.
The national standards which all Advanced Skills Teachers must meet are described
in more detail in Supplement 2: Advanced Skills Teachers: Assessment.
4
Advanced Skills Teachers
WHO CAN BECOME AN ADVANCED SKILLS TEACHER?
Teachers in maintained schools who want to stay as classroom practitioners and
can meet AST assessment standards. This includes part-time and peripatetic staff
and those currently holding management responsibilities. Existing heads or deputies
can also apply.
The key requirement is for excellent teaching practice and credibility
with a wide range of colleagues inside and outside the school.
The AST grade will not normally be compatible with an existing management post,
as it is not intended for those with responsibilities for staff and resources. We would
expect ASTs to be allowed to concentrate on their new role. Teachers who become
ASTs must move to the AST pay spine.
5
Advanced Skills Teachers
ASTs IN ACTION...
Christine works in a first school in a rural authority where she specialises in literacy.
She has taught for over 25 years, has worked in several schools and at one point
in her career was a headteacher of a primary school. She moved from headship
as she recognised that her real enthusiasm was for classroom teaching.
Once appointed as an AST she provided demonstration lessons and other support
for her colleagues. Christine also assisted in a school in Special Measures and
worked in this school for one day a week as part of her outreach work. She was
supervised by a project leader of the LEA, who was based in the school as part
of its recovery programme. On any particular day Christine typically supported
the teaching of three lessons and discussed them with the teacher concerned.
The work provided a high degree of professional challenge. Christine had to
simultaneously provide a role model for other teachers, teach the pupils a topic,
establish appropriate levels of discipline and control, and get to know the names
of the pupils. She was easily able to rise to these challenges.
Christine found her experience of outreach very rewarding and it gave her confidence
for other work she might do in her role as an AST. Her own school welcomed the
opportunity to deploy one of it’s staff in a wider context as it recognised that it
would benefit in that Christine would have the chance to discover and share the
best practice of partner institutions. The headteacher was keen to give other
teachers similar opportunities.
6
Advanced Skills Teachers
WHAT DOES BEING AN AST INVOLVE?
The main duty of an AST is excellent classroom teaching. ASTs spend 80%
of their time teaching their own class(es).
The aim must always be to preserve the AST’s commitment
to their own teaching and high standards.
But they will also undertake a range of additional responsibilities to share their
good practice with other teachers and support wider professional development.
They provide this support not only in their own schools but also through outreach.
ASTs focus on helping colleagues to raise teaching and learning
standards in their own and other schools.
7
Advanced Skills Teachers
Activities can include:
leading professional learning groups;
advising other teachers in classroom organisation and teaching methods;
providing model lessons;
spreading good practice based on educational research;
producing high quality teaching materials;
advising on professional development;
establishing professional learning teams in schools;
helping to support performance management of other teachers;
supporting teachers experiencing difficulties;
helping with the induction and mentoring of newly qualified teachers;
participating in initial teacher training.
ASTs IN ACTION...
Sue’s role as AST in a large secondary school involves contributing to the school’s
School Centred Initial Teacher Training programme. Her background in technology
and ICT means she acts as a consultant to the Design department. She provides
weekly advice sessions for newly qualified teachers (NQTs) within the department,
as well as delivering training sessions within the school’s NQT training programme.
Sue also delivers master classes for those pupils of Design who are in the C/D grade
range. Across the school, Sue is supporting the development, implementation and
delivery of video conferencing, particularly as a means of using external providers
to support learning. Sue is developing a curriculum link with a cluster of schools
so that they can benefit from the school’s development in Computer Aided Design
and video conferencing.
8
Advanced Skills Teachers
A COMMITMENT TO OUTREACH
An AST is responsible for activities that take place not only within their own school but
beyond in the wider educational community.
Outreach enables classroom teachers of proven ability to have an influence
beyond their own school through imaginative and innovative ways of
sharing good practice.
New communications technology will play an important role in these developments.
ASTs IN ACTION...
Paul works in an 11–18 Technology College and was previously Head of
AST
Technology. As an Advanced Skills Teacher he plans to share his work in
curriculum development with other schools and other teachers. He is particularly
concerned about the need to promote aspects of computer control technology.
He has a continuing role in the local feeder primary schools and developing the
expertise of the primary teachers. His experience has already been shared with
other teachers in his own school and is helping to improve the continuity of
experience of pupils from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. Planning meetings are
also being held with all the primary technology co-ordinators in the other feeder
schools. A more challenging task will be to outreach to other secondary schools.
Paul has also been able to provide support to teachers in other subjects and
the quality of his work is widely appreciated. He focuses on generic aspects
but also helps where teachers have had difficulty with ICT and other aspects
of technology.
9
Advanced Skills Teachers
ASTs are expected to spend 20% of their time working with other teachers to raise
teaching and learning standards. Normally an Advanced Skills Teacher will spend the
equivalent of four days a week working in their own school and one day working with
teachers from another school or schools. Initially some of the 20% might be spent
working with teachers in the AST’s school but in time we would expect ASTs to be
spending the whole of this time working with teachers from other schools.
HOW DOES OUTREACH WORK?
The LEA or other body supporting the AST post will have a key co-ordinating
role, ensuring that outreach is planned, delivered, monitored and assessed.
This ensures that the AST post can support the priorities identified in the LEA’s
Education Development Plan to raise standards in its schools.
ASTs IN ACTION...
Keith works in a small school support project in a rural authority. The project
comprises a cluster of five schools each with two or three teaching staff.
Keith has extensive experience of teaching mixed age classes. When the schools
held a common professional day this enabled him to hold in-service training for all
staff in the cluster, concentrating on effective strategies for mixed age teaching
and the particular challenges of addressing the needs of pupils with special
needs. This expertise has now been used more widely by the LEA where he
has held a similar session for NQTs working in small schools as part of their
induction programme.
For more information see Supplement 1: Advanced Skills Teachers: Role
and Outreach.
10
Advanced Skills Teachers
WHEN IS OUTREACH NOT COMPULSORY?
If the AST is employed in a school subject to special measures or designated
as having serious weaknesses and where the AST activities are related to the
school’s or LEA’s plans for removing the school from this category. However,
some outreach work is recommended in order to extend and develop the AST’s
skills and confidence.
Where the school is funding the post from its own budget outreach is encouraged
but is not a requirement.
WHAT IS THE PAY SCALE FOR ASTs?
There is a separate pay spine for holders of AST posts which runs
from £27,939 to £44,451 (from 1 April 2001).
ASTs do not receive management allowances, recruitment and retention allowances
or SEN allowances. They are eligible to receive applicable London allowances.
Governing bodies or LEAs will select a five point pay range within the overall 27 point
spine which will allow for appropriate pay increases. For example, an AST starting at
point 5 on the AST pay spine has the opportunity to progress to point 9 on the AST
pay spine. Pay progression is based on sustained high quality performance against
agreed performance criteria.
For more information about pay and conditions and the full pay spine see
Supplement 3: Advanced Skills Teachers: Pay and Conditions.
11
Advanced Skills Teachers
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE?
ASTs are expected to work flexibly under the direction of their head teacher. This
includes commitments outside normal school time – the working time provisions for
classroom teachers in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document do not
apply. Full details of AST pay and conditions can be found in the Document.
ASTs should not normally have management responsibilities over and above those
of classroom teachers but will work with existing school managers.
WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO BECOMING AN AST?
AST posts are created by schools who believe that a teacher with excellent
classroom teaching skills can not only raise the level of achievement of their
own pupils but those of their colleagues and the school itself.
Schools are encouraged to advertise AST posts externally to ensure
a wide selection of candidates but, potential ASTs can also be identified
by internal selection.
12
Advanced Skills Teachers
The LEA agrees to fund the post through the Standards Fund (unless the school
is to fund it from its own budget).
Candidates for the post then have to pass a national AST assessment
procedure. This is carried out by outside assessors who evaluate evidence of
how the candidate meets AST standards. It involves looking at the candidate’s
application and portfolio (see below), observing their work in the classroom
and interviews in the school.
Contents of a Portfolio
The purpose of a portfolio is to provide the best examples of evidence for each of
the standards, in a form which is succinct and easily accessible to the assessor.
Portfolios are arranged in different ways, but the most successful are arranged
in sections, one for each standard. Within each standard, there may be
sub headings.
A clear index, allowing easy access to each section is also useful.
Portfolios work particularly well when the candidate has collected relevant
documentation and recorded relevant activities over a period of time.
Teachers who pass the assessment are then eligible to be shortlisted for an
AST post.
Teachers who are shortlisted but not appointed can apply for other AST
posts in other schools without having to be reassessed.
The original AST guidance stated that reassessment would be needed after five
years in an AST post or for a teacher applying for an AST post after a period
out of the grade. The requirement for reassessment was intended to ensure the
continuing quality of the AST grade. Following the introduction of performance
management procedures for ASTs, the need for reassessment and the form it
takes is to be reviewed.
13
Advanced Skills Teachers
HOW ARE AST POSTS FUNDED?
The Government is committed to the long-term future of the AST grade. Funding
is available to all maintained schools through the Standards Fund.
Support is allocated to LEAs for each financial year. Schools are able to claim the
additional costs of placing an AST at an appropriate point on the AST pay spine and
£1500 per term towards the costs of outreach work. DfES provides just over half
of these costs while LEAs
provide the rest through
matched funding.
A school can fund AST posts
using its own budget provided
all ASTs have been successfully
assessed by the national
assessment agency.
For more information see
Supplement 4: Advanced
Skills Teachers: Appointment
and Funding.
ASTS AND THE PERFORMANCE THRESHOLD
There is currently a requirement that from 1 April 2002 that AST applicants
should have passed the threshold. This condition is currently under review and
may be removed in next year’s School Teachers’ Review Body recommendations.
ASTs do not receive a separate threshold payment as the AST grade provides access
to a higher pay spine. Governing bodies will, however, wish to take account of the
threshold payment available to other staff in determining individual AST pay ranges.
14
Advanced Skills Teachers
ASTs who leave an AST post to revert to classroom teaching should be deemed
to have crossed the threshold and will revert to the first point on the upper pay range.
A teacher who has been successful at AST assessment but who has not taken up
a post will be deemed to have passed the threshold if or when they fulfil the other
threshold eligibility criteria (i.e. they reach point 9).
Want to find out more about becoming an Advanced Skills Teacher? Contact
the AST Co-ordinator for your LEA or school, or ring the DfES Public Enquiry Unit
on 0870 0002288 or access the website: www.dfes.gov.uk/AST.
For more information see Supplement 2: Advanced Skills Teachers: Assessment
and Supplement 4: Advanced Skills Teachers: Appointment and Funding.
15
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Annesley
Nottinghamshire
NG15 0DJ
Tel 0845 60 222 60
Fax 0845 60 333 60
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ISBN 1 84185 609 6
© Crown copyright 2001
Produced by the Department for Education
and Skills
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reproduced for non commercial or training
purposes on the condition that the source
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