Advanced Skills Teacher is a role in a maintained school in England and Wales. Advanced Skills Teachers are judged through external assessment against a range of criteria to demonstrate excellent classroom teaching practice. They are employed in Advanced Skills Teacher posts in roles which include an element of work dedicated to supporting teaching colleagues in their own schools, and other schools in the area, to improve their own practice. The role was introduced in 1998 to reward excellent teachers who chose to stay working in classrooms, rather than following other routes to promotion through leadership.

Introduction of the role

The Labour party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 manifesto for the general election of 1997

United Kingdom general election, 1997

The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

 included a statement that they would "create a new grade of teachers to recognise the best." The intention was to ensure that teachers who excelled in the classroom were given both financial incentive and career-path options to allow them to continue in that role, providing a role model of high quality teaching.

Following its election in May of that year, the new government brought forward the white paper

White paper

A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...

, Excellence in Schools, which outlined proposals for the new grade of teacher. The then Secretary of State for Education and Employment

Secretary of State for Education and Skills

The Secretary of State for Education is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove....

, David Blunkett

David Blunkett

David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...

, released additional details about the nature and pay relating to the posts in March 2008. In July of that year, regulations were put in place to provide funding for the role, with the grade being formally introduced from September 1998.

Responsibilities of the role

Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs) are given additional non-teaching time to allow them to share their teaching skills with colleagues both within their own school, and in other schools in the local area. This time normally amounts to a minimum 20% of the working week. In this time, ASTs are expected to undertake a range of tasks related to the raising of standards of teaching and learning in classrooms. These include, although are not limited to:

• supporting colleagues who are failing to meet high standards
• advising colleagues on pedagogical matters
• providing 'model' lessons to demonstrate excellent practice
• supporting the induction
  Induction (teachers)
  Induction is used to refer to a period during which a Newly Qualified Teacher in England or Wales is both supported and assessed to ensure that regulatory standards are met.-Background:...
  
   of new teachers
• leading professional development of teachers.

It is expected that a considerable amount of this work will be undertaken in schools other than the teacher's own school as part of outreach schemes. This may involve working in liaison with the Local Education Authority

Local Education Authority

A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...

.

Assessment and appointment

To become an Advanced Skills Teacher, a qualified teacher must first be assessed as meeting the professional standards of the role. In addition, they must be appointed to a specially-created Advanced Skills Teacher post.

In order to be assessed as an AST, a teacher must demonstrate that they are able to meet the professional standards for the role. There are three stated standards relating to the role of AST, but in addition, applicants must also meet the subsumed standards of an Excellent teacher - a separate role as defined by government policy. There are a total of 28 standards to be met, falling under three main categories:

• Professional attributes
• Professional knowledge and understanding
• Professional skills

Teachers applying for AST posts must meet an external assessor who will judge the postholder against the criteria before being appointed to the post.

Pay and conditions

When the role of AST was first introduced, it was accompanied by a 27-point pay scale separate from that of classroom teachers or school managers. In its review of school teachers' pay in 2004, the School Teachers' Review Body recommended a change to the scale with effect from September 2006. Since that time, Advanced Skills Teachers have been paid on a scale of 18 pay points, which is identical to the first 18 points range of the Leadership pay scale, which is used for Head teacher

Head teacher

A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....

s, and Deputy and Assistant Headteachers.

Unlike teachers employed on the main pay scale, Advanced Skills Teachers are not subject to the limits on working time of 195 days per academic year, or 1265 directed hours per year. Head teachers are, however, required to ensure that Advanced Skills Teachers have a reasonable work/life balance.