Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Glossary and FAQs
FAQs
Here is a list of frequently asked questions than may answer some of your queries:
As a school-based Mentor, you should be afforded the time, resources and the support of your school or college to discharge the requirements of your role. School-based Mentors play a crucial role in the development of student teachers as expert professionals and role models. School-based Mentors knowingly pass on their skills by modelling and sharing feedback with students but perhaps as importantly, they pass on their tacit knowledge about what being a teacher means in a broader sense. We ask School-based Mentors to:
- Carry out one formal weekly recorded observation and have weekly meeting/s totalling 90 minutes with your student in which you will discuss progress and set targets.
- Assess your student accurately using the framework on PebblePad with the support of the university Lead Mentor.
- Support your student in continually reviewing and extending their subject knowledge and teaching practice.
- Maintain records as required in PebblePad. Your student and university Lead Mentor will help you in this.
- Make sure your student understands the procedures and policies of the school and you have agreed with your student on a broad structure for the placement including when the student is expected to arrive and leave and how they should spend their time when not teaching.
- Prepare for and attend a Progress Review and Final Review meeting with your student and the university Lead Mentor.
While there is no longer a mandatory minimum training time requirement from the DfE, we are still required to ensure that all school-based mentors receive sufficient high-quality training to ensure they can effectively support student teachers to obtain the knowledge and skills they need to successfully complete their ITE school placement. 
With this in mind, our training offer has continued to be developed, and we will provide school-based Mentors with the knowledge and skills they need to undertake the role through:
- Clear and detailed operational guidance of what is required of school-based Mentors across the placement (e.g. weekly meetings, progress review visits, final reviews etc). 
- Ongoing support and development for school-based Mentors on effectively supporting the learning and improvement of student teachers (e.g. assessing student progress, giving effective feedback). 
- Knowledge and understanding of the Initial Teaching Education and Early Career Framework (previously the ITT core content framework) and its underpinning evidence, and of the ITE curriculum which the student teacher will be following.
This will continue to be delivered through:
- Three face-to-face, in person conferences – dates tbc.  These will be a fantastic opportunity to develop your practice in a supportive environment.
- Asynchronous online training through our brand-new ESTEEM (Establishing Specialism in Teacher Education as Expert Mentors) learning platform
We will also offer:
- Online drop-in sessions for:
- Training that benefits from input and discussion from school-based Mentors
- Any questions, queries or help you may need with any aspect of mentoring our students on placement in your school.
Training requirements
We consider the ‘gold standard’ of best practice for school-based Mentor training to be:
- New school-based Mentors to work towards completing an initial 20 hours training across two years.
- Existing school-based Mentors to complete 6 hours of ongoing training each year.
We do recognise prior learning (RPL). Any new school-based Mentors with whom we can RPL, will only be required to complete the 6 hours of essential training as detailed below. Of course, the full suite of training will be available to school-based Mentors with RPL should they wish to undertake it.
For all new school-based Mentors, the 20 hours of training will be made up of:
- 6 hours of essential training comprising
- 2-hour pre-recorded presentation covering the logistics of being a school-based Mentor
- 1-hour pre-recorded presentation covering the Initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF)
- 3 hours made up of either
- modules delivered asynchronously training via our ESTEEM learning platform
- Attendance at one of our conferences.
- 14 hours of training can comprise any of the following to suit your needs:
- modules delivered asynchronously training via our ESTEEM learning platform (from January 2026)
- attendance at one of the drop-in training sessions (our monthly online support sessions do not count)
- attendance at further conferences.
For all existing school-based Mentors, the 6 hours of ongoing/refresher training each year will be made up of:
- 2-hour pre-recorded presentation covering the logistics of being a school-based Mentor
- 1-hour pre-recorded presentation covering the Initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF)
- 3 hours made up of either
- modules delivered asynchronously training via our ESTEEM learning platform (from January 2026)
- attendance at one of the drop-in training sessions (our monthly online support sessions do not count)
- attendance at further conferences.
We have designed this training to be as flexible as possible to help you fit it around your teaching commitments. If you need any support with this, please do contact us and let us know how we can help.
Whilst on placement, each student is assigned a university Lead Mentor who will make regular contact with your student and you and be a source of support. They will complete an in-person visit* to your school roughly halfway through placement to moderate a Progress Review and meet with your student and you at the end of the placement for a Final Review to sign off the placement.
*Except UG phase 1 which will be a virtual visit via Microsoft Teams.
Our placements team will contact you to outline the students we are looking to place, with dates, number of days on placement, what percentage of teaching these students will take, key stages needed and payments for taking these students. You will then let us know what you can offer. We have:
- Undergraduate primary 3-11 students in years 1, 2 and 3
- Postgraduate primary 3-11 students
- Full time and part time postgraduate secondary 11-18 students for English, Maths, Physical Education and Physics (and from September 2026, Biology and Chemistry)
We aim to send this information across to you 2-3 weeks before the start of the placement, if not earlier.
There is not a set number of days, hours or minutes teaching your student will complete, instead, your student will build up to the following percentages of a full-time teacher’s timetable in your school.
| Course | Phase one | Phase two | Phase three |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 50% | 60% | 80% (for at least the last 6 weeks) |
| Postgraduate (pro-rata for part time students) | 60% | 80% (for at least the last 6 weeks) |
On PebblePad there are subject and phase overviews that will help you to understand what your student is taught at the university and how your role can fit with this. School-based Mentor training will also help with this.
As their school-based Mentor, you will assess your student against expected progress statements, and in their final placement against the Teachers' Standards. The university Lead Mentor will moderate these assessments.
We have tried to make this as straight forward as possible for you. The paperwork you complete will be via PebblePad. This includes:
- One formal weekly recorded observation
- Weekly meeting comments
- Placing ticks in tables to assess student progress
- Adding comments against the Teachers’ Standards
- Completion of a Progress Review and Final Review
With any issues, you should contact the university Lead Mentor as soon as possible.
PebblePad is an e-portfolio workbook for placement assessment and learning. As a school-based Mentor, you will be provided with an 'external' PebblePad account to allow you to log in. This account will provide you with authenticated access to your students' workbooks to enable you to carry out your role as a school-based Mentor. You will be able to log in, view their workbooks, and assess and provide feedback on the pages of the workbook using 'assessor fields’, which are sections labelled specifically for you to complete.
In the first instance, your student teacher will be required to provide the placement team with your email address so that we can add you to PebblePad. You will then receive a link to access the system.
We are very grateful for any support schools can provide. If you can offer more placements, please contact our Placement Team: carnegie.partnerships@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.
Payments are made towards the end of the placement.
Glossary of terms
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Core area
Overall areas against which progress is measured during placements. The Core Areas are:
- Becoming a professional
- Behaviour Management
- Pedagogy
- Curriculum
- Assessment
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Expected Progress Statements
These are statements within each Core Area that Mentors will use to determine if the correct progress is being made. They are different for each phase, and for UG and PG.
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Final review
This is to determine that, by the end of the placement, the student has made expected progress in each of the Core Areas for that phase, and for UG phase 3 and PG phase 2, that the Teachers’ Standards have been met. It includes:
- Completion of a review on PebblePad by the Professional/Associate Mentor and student
- A tripartite meeting between the school-based Mentor, university Lead Mentor and student via Microsoft Teams
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Level 4/5/6/7
This refers to the level of study the student is completing in that year as follows:
- UG year 1 = level 4
- UG year 2 = level 5
- UG year 3 = level 6
- PG = level 7
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PebblePad
PebblePad is an online e-portfolio tool facilitating the broad and secure assessment of students. The system allows students and those who work with them to record and formatively measure progress against the Core Areas, and eventually summatively assess students to show they have met the Teachers’ Standards.
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Personal Tutor
A university-based tutor whose role is to be a personal tutor to a group of students. They help to guide students, discuss course progress, devise a PREP form if needed, and consider targets for each phase and the students’ ECT years with them.
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PG
Abbreviation for postgraduate.
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Phase 1/2/3
This refers to what stage of placement the student is on during their course.
- For UG:
- Phase 1 = level 4 placement, or placement in their first year
- Phase 2 = level 5 placement, or placement in their second year
- Phase 3 = level 6 placement, or placement in their third year
- For PG:
- Phase 1 = first level 7 placement over the first three half terms of the academic year
- Phase 2 = second level 7 placement over the last three half terms of the academic year
- For UG:
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Placement Readiness Engagement Planner (PREP)
This is a plan put in place for a student who has not made the expected progress on a placement, or was not placement ready for a first attempt at a placement and therefore needs to re-sit a placement. This is produced by the student with their Personal Tutor.
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Progress Review
This is to determine that roughly halfway through a placement, the student is making expected progress in each of the Core Areas for that phase. It includes:
- Completion of a review on PebblePad by the school-based Mentor and student
- An in-person visit to the school by the Lead Mentor to observe the student teaching and to hold a tripartite meeting between the school-based Mentor, university Lead Mentor and student.
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Reasonable Adjustment Plan (RAP)
This is an evidence-based plan that gives details of any adjustments to the way a student is taught or assessed based on disability and identified needs. It will detail any study related challenges the student may experience, and tailored support needs based on their individual requirements.
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School-based Mentor
The school-based Mentor (who may or may not be the school’s ITT Coordinator) has overall responsibility for the development of our student whilst they are on placement and undertakes the weekly meeting with the student.
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Support Plan
A plan put in place should a student not be making expected progress on a placement by or before the Progress Review. This consists of a student support plan based on a maximum of three Teachers’ Standards or Core Areas that will be reviewed five normal working days later. Should the student not make the progress required, there will be no second support plan and the placement will be terminated.
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Support plan
A plan put in place should a student not be making expected progress on a placement by or before the Progress Review. This consists of a student support plan based on a maximum of three Teachers’ Standards or Core Areas that will be reviewed 5 normal working days later. Should the student not make the progress required, there will be no second support plan, and the placement will be terminated.
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Supporting teacher
This is another teacher whose lessons our student teaches some of, but who is not the school-based mentor. They will support and provide feedback to the student.
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Teachers' Standards
These are the DfE standards against which a Mentor will summatively assess their students in their final placement to achieve QTS.
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UG
Abbreviation for undergraduate.
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University Lead Mentor
This is the university-based tutor who is the bridge between the university and the placement school. Their role is vital in:
- Quality assuring placements
- Confirming that the student is making expected progress and if not, putting a support plan in place
- Supporting School-based Mentors
- Building partnership working with school colleagues.
