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An overview for training providers

This guide intends to provide an overview of the application process for training providers. The GTTR Admissions Guide contains detailed information about all the subjects below. If you require more information, please contact the HEI Team or your External Relations representative.

Extended character sets (2012 entry application cycle)

GTTR applicants and referees will be able to enter some European characters that are not in the English alphabet (extended character sets) in certain fields of Apply and Track. We are doing this to support the Welsh Language Act (1993), and in doing so, further allowing applicants to enter other European characters. Information shown to applicants in Apply will refer to the extended characters as 'European characters'.

Fields marked with the symbol 'Æ' in the following sections of Apply will accept European characters (the 'Æ' symbol will only be displayed if a European character has been entered):

  • personal details
  • personal statement
  • work experience
  • referees' details
  • reference.

Applicants can also enter European characters if they change their address in Track.

Not all training providers can view these characters correctly, so a version of the application with substituted English characters will also made available to them. If a European character is entered in Apply or Track, a warning message will appear on the screen. The applicant or referee will need to view and agree to the substituted characters version of each section in which they have entered European characters before submitting their application or reference.

This change will allow applicants and referees to use characters from the following Unicode character sets:

  • Basic Latin (excluding C0 control characters)
  • Latin-1 (excluding C1 control characters)
  • Latin Extended A
  • Latin Extended B
  • Latin Extended Additional.

If a European character is entered that does not have a valid substitution, we will insert the character '#'.

View a full list of character substitutions from the Unicode extended character to ASCII English character version (PDF) (February 2011).

Courses

Courses that you recruit for through the GTTR are listed on GTTR Course Search - applicants use this to find suitable teaching courses at training providers in England, Scotland and Wales. Each course can have an Entry Profile - Entry Profiles should tell applicants about the course, what you require from potential trainees and the experience they can expect if they attend your training provider. When creating your Entry Profiles, include

  • what you are looking for in your students, like classroom experience, good communication and organisational skills, enthusiasm and other character traits
  • details they should include in their personal statement
  • who should write their reference and what the referee should include
  • the length of work experience required
  • minimum entry requirements - make it clear whether they should meet them before they apply
  • the selection criteria you use when considering applicants
  • how much of the course will be spent in a school and what they should expect from the course - they need to know the difference between a training programme at a university or in a SCITT consortium.
 

Also explain what provisions there are for trainee teachers with disabilities - make it clear if there are any restrictions or additional support that they should know about before they apply.

Consideration

All primary applications must be considered if they are received at the GTTR by the 1 December deadline and you are their first choice - so make sure that you keep places available until you have received all of these applications from us.

For any other applications, you can decide how and when to consider these. You can close primary courses after we have sent you all applications received at the GTTR by 1 December. All other courses can be closed at any time. Closing courses is important: it stops applicants from applying if a course is already full.

Interviews

You need to let us know if you're offering an interview or not within 28 days of receiving the application. If you tell us that you are inviting the applicant for interview, a further 28 days are added to this time period before we need to know if you are offering a place or not.

Send interview decisions to us and we will let applicants know through our Track system that you are offering them an interview. You must still send official interview invitations to applicants providing full details.

Please try to send a final decision as soon as possible after an interview, so that we can let the applicant know if they have been offered a place at your training provider, or if we will be sending their application to their next choice.

Offers

When making offers, read them from the applicant's perspective - you are bound to uphold your offers so make sure they are clear. You can offer conditional and unconditional places.

  • Conditional offers may contain just academic or non-academic conditions or a combination of both. Non-academic conditions include criminal record and health checks or proof of qualifications.
  • Unconditional offers should be used if there are only non-academic conditions, such as satisfactory health and criminal record checks or school experience.
  • The offer you send through us is official, so make sure it covers all conditions, including the date by which you require the applicant to send you proof of their qualifications.
  • If there is a specific date by which an applicant needs to meet the conditions, this must be in the offer. This is important for courses with several start dates.
  • You can set up your own offer abbreviations in the applicant data section in web-link.
  • Once you have sent us an offer, the applicant has 14 days to accept or decline it.
 

Stop decisions

If you cannot provide a decision within the 56 days available, in exceptional circumstances you can enter a stop decision, which holds the application until you have the information you require. We tell the applicant and they can decide whether to wait or ask for their application to be sent elsewhere.

Rejections / withdrawals

If you cannot make an offer, you can reject an application or withdraw the choice and give different reasons for this decision. The GTTR Admissions Guide explains the different options. If we do not receive any decision from you, we will reject the applicant on your behalf.

Confirmation

Where you have made conditional offers, you need to confirm whether the applicant has met the conditions of the offer or not. We tell them that they must meet conditions by 31 August, unless otherwise agreed with you. In your offer, tell the applicant when and where to send proof that they have met the conditions.

You send the confirmation decision to us and we let the applicant know. Check the Confirmation Outstanding Decision List in web-link to see which applicants are waiting for a decision. If we do not receive a response from you before mid - October, we will reject any outstanding conditional places on your behalf.

If an applicant cannot meet the conditions of their offer before the end of the application cycle, you can enter a Delayed Confirmation (DCF) decision before mid - October to postpone confirming a place until you have the required proof of conditions - the application will then stay open in the next cycle.

Extra and Clearing

Extra can be used between mid-March and the end of June by applicants who do not have a place and we cannot send their application to any other training providers listed on their application. If you receive an application in Extra, you have 21 days to make a decision before the applicant can apply elsewhere. If you plan to offer a place but cannot enter it before the 21 days, let the applicant know so that they do not apply elsewhere. After 21 days, you can still consider applications if they have not been sent to a different provider.

From July, any applicants still applying in Extra are entered into Clearing, as well as anyone applying to the GTTR after 30 June. Applicants contact you direct to discuss vacancies in Clearing. If you want to consider them, check on web-link that they are eligible. All eligible applicants receive a Clearing Number and a Clearing Passport, which is a paper form that acts as proof to you that they are in Clearing.

Before you interview an applicant in Clearing, ask them to send you their original Clearing Passport to confirm that they will attend the interview.

If you want to offer a place in Clearing, send the decision to us and we will let the applicant know in Track. If you cannot offer the applicant a place, return the Clearing Passport to them so that they can apply elsewhere.

Find out more

For more detail about any stage of the application process, check the GTTR Admissions Guide or call our HEI Team.