The MTL aims to further improve teacher quality to raise standards in education, narrow gaps in attainment and give children better life chances.

The masters programme will be available from September 2009, initially to all newly qualified teachers recruited in the North West of England. It will also be available to newly qualified teachers and new heads of department recruited to National Challenge schools across the country in September 2009.

Earlier this year, we held regional consultations with schools and higher education institutions to seek their views on the content, design, delivery and assessment of the MTL Programme. Read the outcomes of the consultations in our  summary report (PDF 45KB) .

National framework for the MTL

From the outcomes of the regional consultations and in agreement with social partners, it was agreed that we would develop a national framework for the MTL, which would provide the basis for MTL providers to develop an MTL programme.

A writing group, drawn from key stakeholders, met in October 2008 to develop the first draft of a national framework, based on the outcomes of consultations with induction coordinators, postgraduate professional development providers, continuing professional development leaders and earlier regional consultations.

Next, we held a second round of consultations in November to seek the views of schools, higher education institutions and other key stakeholders developing the national framework for the MTL.

Training for in-school coaches

In-school coaches will be key in supporting teachers taking the MTL. The TDA is developing a specification for training coaches, based on a clear understanding of what constitutes good quality professional learning in the workplace, and the role of the coach in delivering learning.

Coaches are used across a range of professional development programmes for teachers. Our Agency met with many national agencies at a recent professional coaching symposium to understand more about the coaching process and inform our understanding of the coach’s role.

Commissioning MTL providers

The next stage is to commission MTL providers: higher education institutions and schools that will work collaboratively to develop and deliver the MTL.

In the North West it has been agreed by social partners and endorsed by ministers that higher education institutions and schools should work collaboratively as the MTL provider in that region. We have also put out an invitation to tender for an MTL provider for National Challenge schools in each of the other eight government office regions.

Find out more about the MTL

Find out about how the MTL will work, read the latest updates in the programme’s development or sign up to receive more information on MTL when it is available.