NUT opposes government re-licensing proposals
The NUT has strongly condemned the government’s plans, contained within the new education white paper, for teachers to be re-licensed every 5 years from September 2010. We will be pursuing the matter with Government with a view to changing the proposals as they stand.
These proposals are nothing short of insulting. The Government itself says that the teaching profession is the best it has ever been. To question teachers' abilities yet further will simply demoralise a profession which is already pushed to the limit.
It is quite unacceptable to require re-licensing when a teacher has passed an induction year and will have been subject to the usual range of accountability measures. The message that the government is giving to students and new teachers with this proposal is extremely negative. If you’re not already a member of the NUT, please join us and join the campaign to defend your professional status.
Let’s be clear, there are no shortage of accountability measures against which teachers are judged, from initial teaching training, through their induction year and then, throughout their careers, via Ofsted inspections. Teachers’ capacity and practice are persistently under review.
The way to recognise teaching as a highly skilled profession is to provide teachers with the highest possible standard of training and professional development and then allow them to use their expertise in the classroom.
We also do not believe that head teachers will welcome an additional responsibility to re-licence their teachers every five years. As well as being insulting to teachers, particularly those at the start of their careers, the proposals would create endless bureaucracy and be completely unworkable.

Christine Blower
General Secretary
1 July 2009