Background
Outlines our commitment to endorsement and the benefits.
The endorsement process is in its pilot phase and may change in future.
The aim of our approach to quality assure professional learning is to ensure that all education practitioners have equity of access to high-quality provision to support their continuous development.
Quality assurance
Our quality assurance approach aligns to the National Professional Learning Entitlement and the National Approach to Professional Learning.
There are 3 levels of quality assurance:
- Accredited: the provision leads to national and/or internationally recognised qualifications. Accreditation is undertaken by the individual provider.
- Endorsed: the provision supports national priorities. For leadership provision, this is led by the National Academy for Educational Leadership. For other national provision, this is led by the Welsh Government.
- Recognised: smaller scale/localised provision is quality assured through a peer review process, based on the national endorsement criteria.
About endorsement
Our rigorous and robust endorsement process provides assurance that professional learning provision has met the required quality standards.
The process is led by the National Endorsement Panel, comprising education professionals, senior leaders and practitioners, chaired by Professor Ken Jones.
Providers delivering professional learning programmes/activities for education practitioners can present an application for endorsement, based on targeted calls for endorsement.
To gain endorsed status, providers will need to complete an application form. If successful, this will lead to an invitation to interview to demonstrate how the provision meets the endorsement criteria.
Endorsement will be awarded for 5 years, with interim monitoring arrangements. We reserve the right to temporarily pause or rescind endorsement. Endorsement status will apply to the provision not the provider.
Endorsement will ensure that provision which meets the criteria, when delivered in the appropriate context, enables high level professional learning.
Endorsement of leadership development provision is part of a separate process, led by the National Academy for Educational Leadership.
Benefits
The award of ‘endorsed status’ will demonstrate that the provision has successfully met the national endorsement criteria.
The main benefit for providers is attaining recognition that their provision has met the required national quality standards. Practitioners’ benefits include confidently accessing provision quality assured at a national level and equity of access to quality professional learning at all stages of the career pathway.
Endorsed provision will be promoted via the professional learning area on Hwb, the single point of access to high quality professional learning for education professionals in Wales.