Teaching job training given a boost in north-west

Training for teaching jobs is set to be given a boost, thanks to the allocation of funding for new places, it has emerged.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has awarded £800,000 to Edge Hill University in recognition of its excellence in equipping school staff with the relevant skills.

Based in the north-west of England, the higher education institution will now be able to provide 92 more places for trainee teachers.

Steve Igoe, pro-vice chancellor (resources) of Edge Hill, stated: "The additional funds will support our work in training and developing not just primary and secondary school teachers, but the whole school workforce."

The success of courses provided at the university - which range from early years to secondary training - was recently confirmed by the publication of two surveys.

Final year students voted Edge Hill's teaching courses as the best in the north-west in the 2008 National Student Survey.

And the most recent poll of graduates from initial teacher training programmes at the institution found that almost 90 per cent were working in teaching the year after their course had ended.

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