The School Teachers' Qualifications (Wales) Regulations 2012

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and re-enact provisions of the Education (School Teachers' Qualifications) (Wales) Regulations 2004 (“the 2004 Regulations”), with some revised provisions in Schedule 2 and some updating and minor drafting changes generally. These Regulations also make saving and transitional provisions and consequential amendments.

Obsolete provisions in the 2004 Regulations have not been re-enacted.

Regulation 4 revokes the 2004 Regulations and makes the saving and transitional provisions set out in Schedule 1.

Regulation 5 and Schedule 2 specify the requirements to be met before persons are qualified teachers in Wales and thus accorded qualified teacher status.

Regulation 6 provides that the Welsh Ministers or the General Teaching Council for Wales are to notify certain persons who meet the requirements in Schedule 2 that they are qualified teachers and sets out the date from which such notification takes effect.

Regulation 7 enables the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales to accredit institutions which provide courses of initial school teacher training and satisfy criteria specified by the Welsh Ministers.

Regulation 8 allows the Welsh Ministers to establish an employment based teacher training scheme which enables persons to train to become teachers whilst employed. Under the scheme, persons may be assessed by accredited institutions to determine whether they meet the specified standards without further training. Guidance on the scheme may be issued by the Welsh Ministers, to which persons exercising functions under the scheme must have regard. Saving provisions in Schedule 1 provide for the employment based teacher training schemes established under the 2004 Regulations to continue despite the revocation of the 2004 Regulations.

Regulations 9 to 11 make consequential amendments to other regulations inserting references to these Regulations, in some cases in substitution for references to the 2004 Regulations. Regulation 10 also amends the Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (Wales) Regulations 2005 to provide that certain assessments may be carried out by accredited institutions.