Assessment Only

Our Assessment Only route enables you to be independently assessed against the English Teachers’ Standards and gain qualified teacher status (QTS) within three months, without leaving your current school.

Assessment Only

Key details

  • Duration

    3 months
  • Location

    in school
  • Cost

    £3,150 plus VAT (as applicable)
  • Funding

    self-funded
  • Level

    primary and secondary

Course description

If you’re a member of school staff such as an unqualified teacher and you can already show that you meet the English Teachers' Standards then our Assessment Only route could be ideal for you.

Our Assessment Only route will help you to:

  • Become employed as a fully qualified teacher

  • Be promoted/and or gain more job security

  • Increase your salary by up to £7,000* per year

  • Play a more significant role in school leadership and management

We currently offer Assessment Only in primary (age ranges 3-7, 5-11 and 7-11) and all main secondary subjects (age ranges 11-16, 11-19 or 14-19).

You can learn more about this course by watching our on-demand webinar.

If you need some extra preparation before applying for our Assessment Only route, you can develop your teaching practice and build evidence against the Teachers' Standards with our personalised QTS preparation course, Straight to Teaching.

Entry requirements

To achieve QTS via our Assessment Only route you must:

  • Be employed in a school in a teaching role with sole responsibility for teaching, assessment and planning

  • Hold GCSEs at level 4/grade C or above in English and maths, plus science if you want to teach in primary 

  • Hold a bachelor degree (300 UCAS points) awarded by a UK university or a recognised international qualification equivalent to a UK Bachelor's degree. If your degree was completed outside of the UK you will need to provide an ENIC statement to demonstrate the comparability of your qualification

  • Have undertaken at least two years of teaching experience that includes evidence of whole class teaching with sole responsibility for planning, marking, assessing and reporting on pupils’ work

  • For the primary phase you need to be teaching the full curriculum including the core subjects of maths, literacy – phonics and science as well as a range of foundation subjects such as geography, history, art and music. You can't be a subject specialist such as PE or music

  • When enrolled you will need to provide a detailed written justification and evidence from prior experience that demonstrates you meet the English Teachers’ Standards by providing a testimony

  • Provide evidence of having taught in at least two schools

  • Evidence that you meet the Teachers’ Standards across a minimum of two consecutive age ranges for your chosen teaching specialism

  • Demonstrate the required fundamental skills in maths and English as defined by the DfE. Further details will be provided following your application

Course delivery

One of our experienced pathway tutors will initially meet you virtually through a Welcome meeting. This will enable you to ask any questions and plan your main meeting called a Pre-Entry Assessment Visit – PEAV. They will then arrange a face-to-face visit in your school to perform lesson observations and review your eight justifications to verify that you meet the English Teachers’ Standards and other criteria before recommending you for QTS assessment.

At the assessment, the assessor will observe a lesson independently and ask you to review the lesson before having professional discussions with you, your in-school mentor and school lead. They will submit their report and recommend you are added to the next monthly QTS moderation panel. Your PEAV report, QTS report and 8 Teachers' Standards justifications will then be reviewed by the monthly moderation panel made up of school leaders and Programme leaders from Tes Institute. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) will award QTS based on the final recommendation of the panel, and you will receive your recommendation email following the panel’s decision.

Course leader

Andrew Locke, Tes Assessment Only course leader


Andrew Locke

Andrew brings 25 years of school experience to his role as Deputy Programme Director of Assessment Only. Starting as a history teacher, he progressed to become a secondary headteacher, holding various leadership positions. Dedicated to aiding eligible staff in gaining QTS, Andrew works to address challenges in recruitment and retention. Eager to leverage his experience, he aims to support teachers, making a lasting impact in schools and classrooms. Read more.

Course fees and funding

Our Assessment Only route costs £3,150 excluding VAT.

Assessment Only route fees may be paid for by you or your school, in full, at the start of the course.*

If you are an international applicant, we will aim to find you an in-country pathway tutor and assessor to support you on the route. Where pathway tutors and assessors aren't available, you must pay and provide costs for flights, hotel, transfers and sustenance for the visit. These will be discussed with you.

Course application and start dates

We have a rolling start date for Assessment Only. As soon as you apply and can show you meet the course entry requirements you'll be enrolled.

Next steps

To apply for our Assessment Only route, fill out our online application form. Once we receive your online application, we will send you a secure link to upload your two testimonials and Confirmation of School Support Form (CSSF). 

Please ensure you submit all three documents as we cannot review your application without them. 

  • 1
    Apply online
  • 2
    Application review and confirmation
  • 3
    Enrolment

Documents you will need

Please print off the Confirmation of School Support Form below for a Senior School Manager (or staff member with equivalent authority) at your employing school to review and sign.

Your testimonials should prove that you have taught in two schools, for two years or more, with full responsibility for planning, teaching and assessing pupil progress.

These must be hand-signed (wet signature) by your head teacher.

Confirmation of School Support Form

Testimonial Form

Apply for Assessment Only

Need more information?
Contact us about this course.

FAQs

*The full amount must be paid within 30 days of the date you are enrolled on the course. Failure to do so will mean your final assessment will be delayed.