Students at Aberystwyth University have said there was an “overwhelming lack of support” on institution’s teacher training program which has been scrapped after its accreditation was pulled.
As the Cambrian News reported last week, the university courses were pulled following a damning inspection report which found training “does not support students to make sufficient progress.”
The Education Workforce Council said it will not re-accredit the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme provided by the Aberystwyth Partnership of Initial Teacher Education - made up of Aberystwyth University alongside six lead schools and 59 partner schools.
It means that from September, the university will no longer be able to provide teacher training for new students.
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One student on the course said that lecturers were “always late”, with marking being “late and inconsistent”, with a lack of support for trainee teachers being “consistent” since 2020.
An Estyn report earlier this year found that the institution had “been too slow to prioritise important areas of its work requiring improvement” and that “too much teaching, mentoring and too many of the learning experiences the partnership provides do not support student teachers to make sufficient progress.”
Following the news of the courses’ scrapping, Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds met with students and called for the university to produce and implement an action plan that will “enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity”, as well as for the university “to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.”
Ms Dodds said: “Aberystwyth University has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.
“However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.
“The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the university’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.
“The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.
“We are now calling on the university to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible. “
One of the course’s students, also a member of the Welsh Young Liberals, said: "There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.
“Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.
“As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.
“This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth University should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”
Aberystwyth University said that while PGCE courses will cease from September, the School of Education “will continue to deliver a wide range of courses, including undergraduate degrees in Childhood Studies and Education, continuous professional development courses for teachers at Masters' level, and research degrees in Education.”