In Initial Teacher Education (ITE), the relationship between Universities and schools and colleges constitutes the central dynamic of successful training partnerships (Walkington 2007). At the core of this relationship is the practicum, where trainees implement the theoretical and practical training received in the University setting in classrooms with ‘real’ pupils and students (Allen 2009). Negotiating the content of the practicum between the partners is subject to competing and contradictory demands of the school and the university (which classes schools are prepared to offer and which classes the university needs to meet the standards required for successful completion of the teaching qualification) and the legal and policy framework within which they both operate.

In England, the existence of a national qualifications and examination system at 16, 17 and 18 year old, alongside a performative inspection system in which the results of such qualifications are the main plank of the judgements that are made about schools, make for particular difficulties for the relationship between schools and Universities concerning the practicum (White, Bloomfield & Le Cornu 2010). Since the introduction of modular examinations in 2000, examination density (papers being available in January and June) creates reluctance on the part of schools to allow post-16 classes to be taken by trainee teachers in their practicum, as they fear the impact of such experiences on their students’ examination results. For trainers of social science (psychology and sociology) teachers, this reluctance to release exam classes for training purposes is particularly acute, because these subjects are outside the pre-16 National Curriculum and therefore are mainly taught in post-16 classes.

In order to address this issue, the English Teacher Development Agency funded a project in 2004-5 aimed at developing an action research strategy for increasing post-16 ITE opportunities in a way that benefited students, departments and schools, through an innovative use of teacher trainees (Bloomfield , Taylor and Maxwell 2004). This was through the development of a model of practice in school/college placements that would increase pass rates for the Partnership department at Advanced level (the main academic qualification at 17 and 18 year old). By impacting positively upon results, the project aimed to establish the utility of allowing trainees into examination subjects and thus secure continued participation of schools in partnership and allowing trainees to gain the experience of post-16 classes that is required for successful completion of a teaching qualification.

Allen, J.M. (2009). Valuing practice over theory: How beginning teachers re-orient their practice in the transition from the university to the workplace. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 647-654. Bloomfield, D., Taylor, N. & Maxwell, T. (2004). Enhancing the link between university and schools through action research on teaching practicum. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 56:3, 355-372. Walkington, J. (2007). Improving partnerships between schools and universities: professional learning with benefits beyond preservice teacher education. Teacher Development, 11(3), 277-294. White, S., Bloomfield, D., & Le Cornu, R.L. (2010). Professional experience in new times: issues and responses to a changing education landscape. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38(3), 181-193.