“Trainees are immensely well supported by knowledgeable and inspirational tutors and by highly skilled, committed mentors.”
Ofsted report 2024
At Edge Hill University, we believe professional practice mentors at schools and settings play a crucial role in developing the trainees’ knowledge, understanding and skills in teaching, as well as preparing them for their future careers in a variety of educational settings.
Within the minimum entitlement of the ITT ECF, trainees at all phases are entitled to receiving clear, consistent and effective mentoring and regular structured feedback from their mentor.
Mentor Curriculum 2025-26
As trainees spend a significant amount of their time in a school environment, the knowledge and expertise of the staff that support them while there, is clearly a critical factor in trainee development. Our mentor curriculum is therefore designed to prepare mentors for their role and responsibilities.
Our mentor curriculum is underpinned by evidenced-based approaches, including the principles of instructional coaching (Kraft et al., 2018), research-informed principles in dialogic processes of teacher improvement (Knight, 2007), the importance of mentors making accurate judgements about trainees’ performance, providing frequent and appropriate opportunities to rehearse effective teaching habits (Sims et al., 2021) and instructional coaching (Sherrington & Caviliogli, 2021).
Working with definitions of the mentor from the National Standards for School-based ITT mentors and the CCF and ITT Requirements for 2024 our curriculum will develop knowledge, understanding and skills in:
1. The specific knowledge, personal attributes and skills needed in mentoring ITTs
2. The techniques of observation, deconstruction and feedback from a range of mentoring and coaching approaches
3. The intent and key design principles of the EHU trainee curriculum
4. The core evidence base of the CCF, School-based ITT mentor Standards, and the EHU curriculum
5. Subject/phase specific mentoring
Mentor Development Outline
All mentors will be sent an email outlining their mentor training requirements for 2025-26. Although there is no longer a minimum training time requirement, expectations regarding the quality, content, and coverage of mentor training remain unchanged.
Our training has been created in line with DfE requirements to provide bespoke mentor development paths based on mentors previous training from 2024-25 or if they are new to mentoring in 2025-26.
Below is an outline of each mentor training path:
Training outline for mentors new to mentoring at EHU in 2025-26
Completion of an Initial Mentor Audit
A key requirement of the Partnership Agreement for the 2025–26 academic year and an essential step in preparing to host an Edge Hill University trainee.
Engagement with online phase mentor training
This online training will be delivered by the subject or mentoring team and will detail the professional practice expectations for your trainee.
Completion of New to Mentoring at EHU or EHU Refresher online module
The below criteria determines which of the two training modules a mentor should complete. These modules will be available via our Abyasa Mentor Portal*.
Mentors who have not mentored with Edge Hill University or any other ITT provider in 2024–25
Complete New to Mentoring at EHU online training
Mentors who are new to Edge Hill University but have mentored with another ITT provider in 2024–25
Complete EHU Refresher online training
Additionally, mentors may choose to complete further professional development units via our Abyasa platform*.
Quality Assurance and paperwork steps to be completed throughout professional practice
- QA1 to 4 checkpoints on Abyasa – to be completed in collaboration with the mentors Link Tutor
- Weekly paperwork completion on Abyasa
Training outline for 2025-26 mentors who mentored at EHU in 2024-25
Engagement with online phase mentor training
This training will detail the professional practice expectations for your trainee. A pre-recorded version will be available via our Abyasa platform* or if you would like to attend a live webinar, booking is available below.
Completion of EHU Refresher online module
This module will be available via our Abyasa Mentor Portal*.
Additionally, mentors may choose to complete further professional development units via our Abyasa platform*.
Optional Audit update
For mentors who wish to update us on any additional training or professional development completed since their 2024-25 audit submission.
Quality Assurance and paperwork steps to be completed throughout professional practice
- QA1 to 4 checkpoints on Abyasa – to be completed in collaboration with the mentors Link Tutor
- Weekly paperwork completion on Abyasa
*Abyasa Portal
You will receive a link to create your Abyasa account from [email protected] within the two weeks leading up to your trainee’s start date.
Through Abyasa, you will be able to access your trainee’s online portfolio and complete the mentor training outlined above:
– New to Mentoring at EHU or EHU Refresher module
– View a recording of phase/subject training (for 2025-26 mentors who mentored at EHU in 2024-25 only).
Please visit our FAQ page – designed to support Mentors with Abyasa.
Supportive Strategies
We have several additional packages available to help mentors support students with specific needs.