Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Professional Studies and the Teachers' Standards Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Professional Studies and the Teachers' Standards deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What is a maintained school and who funds and oversees it?

   A maintained school is funded by the local authority (LA) and must follow the national curriculum and national pay and conditions. The LA has oversight; types include community, foundation, voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled schools.

2. What is an academy and how does its governance and funding differ from a maintained school?

   An academy is state-funded but independent of local authority control, funded directly by central government via a funding agreement, run by an academy trust. It has freedoms over the curriculum, term dates, and staff pay/conditions, but must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and follow admissions/SEND law.

3. What is a free school?

   A free school is a type of academy: state-funded, set up by groups such as parents, charities, businesses or community organisations in response to local demand. It is non-selective, free to attend, and independent of local authority control.

4. What distinguishes an independent (private) school from state schools?

   Independent schools charge fees, are funded privately rather than by the state, are not required to follow the national curriculum, and are inspected (e.g. by ISI or Ofsted) but must register with the DfE and meet the Independent School Standards.

5. What is Ofsted and what is its statutory role?

   Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) is the non-ministerial government department that inspects and regulates schools, early years and further education in England, reporting directly to Parliament to raise standards and improve lives.

6. As of the 2024/25 reforms, how does Ofsted report school inspection outcomes (replacing single-word judgements)?

   Ofsted removed the single overall effectiveness grade in September 2024 and is introducing report cards that grade across multiple individual areas (toolkit evaluation areas) rather than one summary word such as 'Outstanding' or 'Good'.

7. What were the four sub-judgements under Ofsted's Education Inspection Framework (2019 EIF)?

   Quality of education; Behaviour and attitudes; Personal development; and Leadership and management.

8. Within Ofsted's 'Quality of education' judgement, what three elements form the 'three I's'?

   Intent (curriculum design and ambition), Implementation (how the curriculum is taught and assessed), and Impact (the outcomes and learning pupils achieve).

9. What is the role of the Department for Education (DfE)?

   The DfE is the ministerial government department responsible for education and children's services policy in England, including the national curriculum, school funding, teacher standards and qualifications, and the legal framework within which schools operate.

10. What is the role of a school governing body?

    The governing body provides strategic leadership and accountability: setting the school's vision and ethos, holding the headteacher to account for educational performance, and overseeing financial performance and the spending of public money. It does not run the day-to-day operation.

11. What is a multi-academy trust (MAT) and how does governance work within it?

    A multi-academy trust is a single legal entity (a charitable company) that runs several academies. The board of trustees is accountable for all schools in the trust; individual schools may have local governing bodies with delegated responsibilities.

12. What is Progress 8 and what does it measure?

    Progress 8 is a secondary school accountability measure of the progress pupils make from the end of KS2 to the end of KS4 across 8 qualifications, compared with pupils nationally who had similar prior attainment. A score of 0 means average progress; positive scores are above average.

13. What is Attainment 8?

    Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average achievement across the same 8 qualifications used in Progress 8 (English and maths double-weighted, three EBacc subjects, and three further qualifications), reported as a school average.

14. What is the EBacc (English Baccalaureate)?

    The EBacc is a performance measure (not a qualification) showing how many pupils take GCSEs in a core group of academic subjects: English, mathematics, sciences, a language (modern or ancient), and history or geography.

15. Describe Kolb's experiential learning cycle as a model of reflective practice.

    Kolb's cycle has four stages: Concrete Experience (do), Reflective Observation (review), Abstract Conceptualisation (conclude/theorise), and Active Experimentation (plan/apply), forming a continuous loop.

16. What are the stages of Gibbs' Reflective Cycle?

    Gibbs' Reflective Cycle has six stages: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan.

17. What is the distinction Schon draws between 'reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action'?

    Reflection-in-action is thinking and adjusting practice while you are teaching (in the moment); reflection-on-action is reviewing and analysing the lesson afterwards to learn for future practice.

18. What is action research in the classroom?

    Action research is a cyclical, practitioner-led enquiry in which a teacher identifies a problem, plans and implements a change/intervention, observes/collects data on its effect, and reflects to inform the next cycle — aiming to improve their own practice.

19. What are the four stages of an action research cycle (after Lewin/Kemmis)?

    Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect — repeated iteratively in a spiral of cycles.

20. What is the difference between a school-based mentor and a university tutor on a PGCE?

    The school-based mentor is an experienced teacher who supports, observes and gives regular feedback on the trainee's day-to-day classroom practice; the university (link) tutor oversees academic progress, quality-assures placements, and links theory to practice across the programme.

21. What makes lesson observation feedback most effective for improving practice?

    It should be specific, evidence-based and focused on a small number of priorities, link to clear targets/next steps, be timely, and involve the trainee in dialogue and self-evaluation rather than simply receiving judgements.

22. What is a professional development portfolio (or e-portfolio) on a PGCE/ITT course?

    A structured, ongoing collection of evidence (e.g. lesson plans, observations, pupil work, reflections, mentor reports) demonstrating the trainee's progress against the Teachers' Standards and informing targets for continued professional development.

23. What is a SMART target, as used in trainee development and appraisal?

    A target that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound — used to make development goals concrete and reviewable.

24. What is the Early Career Framework (ECF) and how does it relate to QTS and the CCF?

    The Early Career Framework underpins a statutory 2-year induction for early career teachers after they gain QTS. It builds on and shares structure with the ITT Core Content Framework (same 5 strands and 'learn that/learn how to' format), extending professional development into the first years of teaching.

What this deck covers

Professional Studies and the Teachers' Standards flashcards FAQ