Faculty of Education - About Us

The Faculty of Education at the University of Cumbria is a major part of the work of the University.  Located across campuses at Lancaster and Carlisle in the North West of England and at sites in London, the Faculty is responsible for a wide range of programmes in teacher education and training.  It is one of the largest providers of primary initial teacher education in England and it has a large secondary initial teacher education portfolio as well.  Continuing professional development and a wider range of postgraduate provision is a developing element of the academic portfolio.

A range of courses are offered at the University’s main London site at the Tower Hamlets Professional Development Centre which represents a unique partnership with Local Authorities in East London.  In addition in London a successful secondary Modern Foreign Languages Course is offered from a site at Woolwich Polytechnic School. 

The Faculty is also engaged in Educational Partnership and Enterprise, providing a wide range of courses and consultancies for Local Authorities across the country and also works internationally.  Much of the Faculty’s work comes under the scrutiny of Ofsted inspection and here there is evidence of consistent achievement across the provision which in turn secures the Faculty’s reputation as a high quality provider of teacher education.  Ofsted reports on the Faculty’s provision can be viewed on their website.|  Additionally there is a growing research culture and the Faculty has consistently improved its research assessment exercise rating over recent years.

The Faculty works closely with the funding body for teacher education, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)|, and is involved in the development of policy at national level through consultancy to the TDA.  Its work around the country has enabled the Faculty to establish itself as a national provider with a regional emphasis and as part of this it has a reputation for innovation.