Latest news from Loughborough University
| 19 June 2006 | PR 06/71 |
Teacher training at Loughborough graded ‘outstanding’
Loughborough University has received the highest possible grade from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in a recent inspection of the University’s secondary initial teacher training (ITT) provision.
In an assessment of its management and quality assurance, Loughborough was graded ‘outstanding’, with the inspectors highlighting several particular strengths – strong leadership, which results in continuous improvement in the course and exciting innovations in its content; outstanding attention paid to the trainees’ needs; very effective training; excellent documentation; and well-designed selection procedures, resulting in the recruitment of very talented trainees.
Loughborough University trains up to 150 secondary school teachers a year through its PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) courses in Design and Technology, Physical Education and Science. The PGCE provides practical professional preparation for teaching in secondary schools (the 11-18 age range), and is designed and delivered in partnership with around 70 schools in up to five surrounding Local Education Authorities.
Dr Jo Harris, Director of the University’s Teacher Education Unit, said: “We are delighted that Ofsted acknowledges the very high quality of our training and the contribution that highly committed university and school staff make to the development of informed, reflective and caring teachers.”
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For further information contact:
- Hannah Baldwin, Head of PR, Loughborough University,
T: 01509 222239, E: H.E.Baldwin@lboro.ac.uk
Notes to editors
- Grades are awarded in accordance with the following scale:
Grade 1 – Outstanding
Grade 2 – Good
Grade 3 – Satisfactory
Grade 4 – Inadequate
- Loughborough has an established reputation for excellence in teaching
and research, strong links with industry, and unrivalled sporting achievement.
Assessments of teaching quality by the Quality Assurance Agency place
it in the top flight of UK universities; the National Student Survey
ranked Loughborough equal first among full-time students; and industry
highlights the University in its top five for graduate recruitment.
Around 40% of Loughborough’s income is for research, and 60% for
teaching. The University has been awarded five Queen's Anniversary Prizes:
for its collaboration with aerospace and automotive companies such as
BAE Systems, Ford and Rolls Royce; for its work in developing countries;
for pioneering research in optical engineering; for its world-leading
role in sports research, education and development; and for its outstanding
work in evaluating and helping to develop social policy-related programmes.
In 2006 Loughborough celebrates the 40th anniversary of its University Charter, awarded on 19 April 1966 in recognition of the excellence achieved by Loughborough College of Advanced Technology and its predecessor Colleges. Loughborough University of Technology was renamed Loughborough University in 1996.