Consultation Hub

DfE asked stakeholders to submit information about the pedagogical underpinning of initial teacher education (ITE) and professional development (PD) programmes for Further Education (FE) teachers. 

A total of 37 responses were received from individuals and organisations spanning a variety of stakeholders, including FE colleges, universities, other learning providers, and representative bodies. Responses cited sources of evidence and gave views on the essential elements of high-quality teacher training.

The responses received – along with other sources of evidence gathered – have informed the work of an Expert Advisory Group tasked with supporting DfE to develop new guidance on curriculum content for FE ITE programmes. If parliament approves the relevant legislation, we expect to publish statutory guidance ahead of the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

This consultation invited views on our proposal for new post-qualifying standards (PQS) and extended early career support for child and family social workers. 

A total of 126 responses were received.  

There was broad support for what we proposed in the consultation: 

• a majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the proposed domains (76%) and outcomes (91%) contained within the revised new PQS set a reasonable expectation regarding what a newly qualified social worker should know by the end of the second year 

• a majority of respondents (67%) agreed that the ‘knows’ and ‘does’ statements in the PQS were appropriate 

• a majority of respondents (54%) either agreed or strongly agreed with our proposals regarding a 2-year programme of support for NQSWs  

• all of our proposals to support employers to deliver the 2-year programme of support received a positive response from the sector  

The government response is available here: Children’s social work post-qualifying standards and induction - GOV.UK  

Based on the responses to the consultation, the Department for Education will proceed with the following actions: 

• proceed with the publication of the new revised PQS – now called the early career standards (ECS) – with them becoming the standard against which newly qualified social workers are assessed against when the 2-year support programme launches in September 2027 

• proceed with proposal to develop a 2-year social work development programme to replace the current one-year programme of support, the child and family assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE)

Following consultation feedback, we have made the following changes to our proposals: 

• we changed the name from post-qualifying standards (PQS) to early career standards (ECS), to better reflect their focus on building strong foundations at the start of a social worker’s professional journey 

• the ECS has been significantly shortened and revised to reduce complexity – with a focus on core learning and application 

• revised outcome statements have been reduced from 26 outcomes to 20 for simplicity and usability 

• the term ‘domain’ has been replaced with term ‘standard’ for clarity and alignment with professional language 

• the terms ‘knows’ and ‘does’ has been replaced with ‘learn that’ and ‘learn how to’ statements, making expectations clearer and more actionable 

• there is a strong focus on anti-discriminatory practice, which is retained as a separate standard  

The early career standards are available here: Child and family social worker early career standards - GOV.UK 

The Department for Education published a consultation on our long-term vision for narrowing the digital divide in schools and colleges. The consultation asked for feedback on our long-term ambition for all schools and colleges to meet the following core digital and technology standards by 2030:  

1. Broadband internet  

2. Wireless networks  

3. Network switches  

4. Digital leadership and governance  

5. Filtering and monitoring 

6. Cyber security 

A total of 210 responses were received. Of those who responded to the consultation, 72% of schools and colleges reported that they are already meeting or could meet the broadband internet, wireless networks, network switches and digital leadership and governance standards by 2030.  

Of those who responded to the consultation, 93% of schools and colleges reported that they are already meeting or could meet the cyber security standards by 2030 and 98% reported that they already meet the filtering and monitoring standards fully or to some extent. 

Some respondents identified specific areas of the standards that may be prohibitively expensive to meet.  

Based on the responses to the consultation, we will continue with our long-term ambition for all schools and colleges to meet the six-core digital and technology standards by 2030.  

We will review specific elements of the standards where respondents said the requirements may be difficult to meet. We will consider whether the standards need to be adjusted in these areas to ensure they are achievable and provide value for money. This will be balanced alongside the need to ensure all schools and colleges have reliable and safe technology.  

We will continue to develop our plan technology for your school support service, focusing on the core six standards and additional functionality to support Responsible Bodies in their strategic role.