How Well New Teachers are Prepared to Teach Pupils with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities

A research report which presents the findings of a study of new teachers in England, which focused on how well their training had prepared them to teach pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities, or both.

Inspectors visited 16 providers of initial teacher education and 70 schools, and interviewed 100 trainees, newly qualified and recently qualified teachers.

The study found that initial teacher education in relation to learning difficulties was rarely inadequate but that too much was satisfactory rather than good.

In addition, the high reliance on school placements to provide training in teaching pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities lead to considerable differences in the quality of provision.