FAQ: Placement Arrangements for Primary Initial Teacher Training
How are placement arrangements administered?
The placement team (Ittpri@mdx.ac.uk) manage the administrative side. The ITE Primary Partnership
Manager (D.Mckay@mdx.ac.uk) and Programme Leaders manage the quality assurance of school
placements and make final decisions on the suitability of placement allocations for trainees.
How are schools selected?
In April we invite all of our partnership schools and schools within the Greater London area to offer
placements for the following academic year. We have a good working knowledge of our partnership
schools gained from our quality assurance processes. The Primary Partnership Manager will consider
offers from any new partnership schools to check that they can offer suitable training experiences. When
trainees work with new partnership schools University link tutors will also make an additional visit to the
school for quality monitoring purposes.
How are placements allocated to trainees?
When allocating placements to trainees we consider a range of factors. These include practicalities such
as travel time in addition to individual training needs. For second placements we ensure that the
allocated school can provide a complementary training experience with for example, an appropriate year
group or particular targeted support.
How far will I have to travel?
The majority of our partnership schools are in North London and within an hour’s travel time from
Middlesex University. However, we do have some partner schools in South London. The maximum travel
time you can expect is an hour and a half. However, we aim to place trainees in a school which is within
an hour’s travel from your home address. The placement team would typically use the Transport for
London journey planner as a guide to travel time and public transport journeys.
What if I change address?
The placement team will use the address that they have recorded on their records. If you change address
you must let the team know immediately. If placements have already been allocated according to a
previous address this cannot be changed.
Can I travel by car?
You may prefer to drive to a placement school and if so you should check parking arrangements at the
school. You will also have the option to declare that you have access to a car to the placement team. This
can provide further flexibility since sometimes a journey by car is more straightforward than by public
transport. However, you should consider if you wish to set a limit on driving time, although this could still
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mean a longer public transport journey time if we are unable to allocate a suitable school within your
specified driving time.
Can I return to my previous placement school?
No, unless you are a BA student returning to your SBT1 school. The requirements for ITT state that to be
awarded with QTS trainees must have been assessed teaching and meeting the Teachers’ Standards (TS)
in two different school settings. You must therefore complete at least two school-based training
placements of at least 6 weeks each in different schools in order for you to be able to demonstrate
meeting the TS across the full ability and specified age range.
Can I find my own placement?
If you have links with a particular school and have been offered a placement please let us know either
through the placement form or email the Primary Partnership Manager, Darren McKay. You should aim
to do this as soon as possible so that your request for a particular school can be considered in good time.
We would need to check suitability using our usual quality assurance processes. Please note that once
placement allocations have been announced we cannot make changes. Please also be aware that having
worked /volunteered in a school prior to the programme will not necessarily mean that the school can
host you for school-based training.
What if I have special circumstances which I would like considered in the allocation process?
There is a formal special circumstances form that you can use to make requests. Exceptional individual
circumstances will be considered by the Partnership Manager and Programme Leaders, but we are
unable to make any guarantees of a more local school. Please note that caring responsibilities would not
normally be considered as a special circumstance.
How will I find out about my placement allocation?
The placement team will notify you by email using your Middlesex email account.
Can I change my placement?
The simple answer to this is No. On occasion Programme Leaders or the ITE Primary Partnership
Manager may decide a placement needs to be changed after it has been allocated. This would likely be
due to new information that may have come to light; however it is unusual since all allocations are
checked before they are shared with trainees.
Darren McKay
ITE Primary Partnership Manager
Dr Christine Khwaja
Director of Primary Programmes
Dr Victoria Brook
Head of ITT
September 2015
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