A programme of initial teacher training run by the University of Bolton - designed to skill up the next generation of secondary school teachers - has been slammed in a damning report.

Teach Lead Bolton, managed by the university, was inspected in May where inspectors found the secondary age-phase programme to be "inadequate" across the board, including the quality of education and training, and the leadership and management.

However, they received a good across the board for the further education age-phase programme.

In their report, inspectors stated that even when making "generous allowances for the impact of the pandemic, it is clear that leaders have failed trainees on secondary age-phase initial teacher education (ITE) training programmes".

They found a considerable number of trainees have not benefitted from suitable school-based placement experiences and at the time of the inspection, some secondary-phase trainees had not had a placement in a secondary school.

Other trainees had been assigned inappropriate school-based placements in settings that did not enable them to learn about the uniqueness of the subject or age-phase that they are being trained to teach.

Several trainees were teaching subjects that were outside their specialism in a bid to secure some type of school-placement experience.

The report, conducted by five of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and two Ofsted Inspectors (OIs), said: "As a result of weak leadership, and a lack of scrutiny and accountability, an unacceptable number of secondary-phase trainees are not expected to complete their training programme within the specified timeframe.

"To compound these weaknesses further, some trainees have not had access to specialist mentoring in their chosen subject.

"Other secondary-phase trainees have experienced poor quality mentoring because the provider has not communicated in detail the content of the centre-based ITE curriculum to mentors.

"Often, mentors are left to design their own programme of training. This means that secondary-phase trainees experience a disjointed ITE curriculum.

"Furthermore, they do not receive appropriate information about how well they are progressing through this curriculum.

"Trainees are routinely and inappropriately assessed against the core content framework (CCF) and the teachers’ standards. Consequently, they receive ineffective targets to guide their progress towards qualified teacher status (QTS)."

Although the secondary age-phase was rated "inadequate", the further education age-phase was rated "good" and received positive feedback.

The report said: "In contrast, trainees in the further education and skills (FES) phase have a rich and diverse experience.

"They have access to a well-planned curriculum.

"They experience high-quality, subject-specific mentoring in a range of appropriate and well-planned placement settings.

"Whether FES trainees are studying at the University of Bolton campus or with one of the franchise partnerships, they receive an equally strong quality of training.

"FES trainees benefit from the provider’s longstanding expertise in delivering ITE in FES programmes.

"Across the FES and secondary-phase programmes, trainees develop a secure understanding of how to adapt the delivery of their subject curriculums for pupils and learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

"Trainees also know how to teach pupils and learners who speak English as an additional language (EAL).

"FES and secondary-phase trainees learn an appropriate range of generic behaviour management strategies. They apply these strategies well in their teaching practice.

"Trainees across the FES and secondary phases receive high levels of pastoral support when they experience challenges.

"They also understand their responsibility to safeguarding pupils’ and learners’ welfare.

"All trainees learn a wide range of strategies to promote the health and well-being of the pupils and learners in their care."

In response to the report, a University of Bolton spokesperson said: “The university was pleased to see the ongoing ‘good’ Ofsted rating for its long-established and well respected Further Education sector specialist Teacher Training.

"It remains one of the largest and well known in the UK.

“The new course for secondary teachers suffered some significant issues with schools-based placements and their availability during the pandemic, for obvious reasons.

“While the university was disappointed with the Ofsted judgement on this much smaller programme, there are areas for improvement which the university is working through.”

In January 2020, the University of Bolton received accreditation from the Department for Education to deliver secondary teacher training.

From September 2020, the programme of Initial Teacher Training with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) was introduced specifically for teachers of maths and computing.

The programme was introduced to fill a gap in the shortage of teachers who can deliver maths and/or computing subjects to 11-16-year-olds across the UK.

Teach Lead Bolton is the borough schools consortium that supports the school-based experience components of the programme under the auspices of the University of Bolton.

Trainee teachers on the intensive programme study for a Masters level PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) ­— and undergo a minimum of 120 days of work experience at two different local schools.