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Implications of the ‘Further Education Teachers Qualification (England) Regulations 2007’ which basically state that anyone teaching a government funded activity who started after September 2007 must obtain a ‘fitness to teach’ qualification. This is the equivalent of a GCE ‘A’ level certificate and cost in the region of £450 and they would also have to have re-certification every year. Instructors teaching before that date were exempt from the need to be certificated but would have to meet the annual assessment.

Because of the change in government my correspondence with the relevant ministry has been protracted, however the situation in December 2010 is as follows:-

 Teachers delivering courses that are wholly privately funded are not required to comply with the regulations. This should apply even when privately funded courses are held in premises that receive public funds.

 The regulations only apply to teachers who started to teach after September 2007. Teachers working in the sector before that date are deemed qualified and are not required to gain additional qualifications.

 In the coming months a major piece of collaborative work will be undertaken…Part of this work will include looking further at the qualification requirements of teachers of informal learning.

 There is a recognition that the regulations have had an unintended consequence in respect of those for whom teaching is not their primary occupation. The current and future work activates I have mentioned above should address this issue and your concerns.

I believe that the circumstances set out above if not now will in the future provide sufficient flexibility to enable compliance with the regulations without being unduly restrictive on the continuance of your long established and historically important craft skill.

(These points are verbatim from a letter sent to me on behalf of John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning.)

No Change to the above at the present time