The Ofsted inspection took place in April and GSOE received the top grade on a scale ranging from Grade 1 ‘Outstanding’, through Grade 2 ‘Good’ and Grade 3 ‘Satisfactory’, to Grade 4 ‘Inadequate’.

The GSOE works in partnership with 70 schools providing secondary ITT courses and offers Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) training to around 250 trainee teachers per year in Citizenship, English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages, Music, Religious Education and Science.

The report was published on 25 July and is available on the Ofsted website. Key strengths of the programme highlighted in the report include:

• the consistently well-qualified and committed trainees recruited to the course in all subjects;
• the high-quality training across the partnership;
• the effective personalisation of training for individuals, combined with strong individual support;
• the strong ethos of collaboration and collegiality in partnership working;
• the consistently effective training and support for trainers to enable them to carry out their roles and responsibilities;
• the rigorous and effective procedures for evaluating course provision, including the arrangements for feedback to trainers; and
• the open and comprehensive arrangements for external moderation leading to sharp judgements and rigorous feedback.