
Associate Head of School: Education
Welcome to Initial Teacher Education at York St John University!
Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is part of the School of Education, Language and Psychology at YSJ. We have been involved in teacher training and education since 1841 when York St John was established as a teacher training college, later becoming a university.
We have a successful history of educating and training outstanding student teachers and a strong record of contributing to our local and national teaching community.
Partnership is at the heart of our ITE programmes. We work together to ensure our programmes reflect the latest research and evidence. The combination of experienced university, school based and other external colleagues working in partnership, makes a powerful and inspiring teaching team across a range of learning settings, providing quality experiences for our student teachers.
We have over 500 students on our Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes and offer ITE programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, leading to both an academic qualification and Qualified Teacher Status.
This area is intended to provide information for our ITE community and in particular to our current students, alumni (teaching in local, regional and national schools) and those interested in joining us to become a teacher – we welcome the opportunity to support you on your journey in the teaching profession!
Keither Parker
Associate Head of School: Education
School of Education, Language and Psychology

Our latest Ofsted report, released at the end of 2017, rated the York St John University ITE Partnership as highly respected in our region, with outstanding leaders who have ‘clear vision, relentless drive and well targeted actions’. Ofsted reported that ‘The university, teaching school alliances and schools demonstrate a common vision and shared commitment to teacher training …the university provides strong institutional support for initial teacher education’ and everyone involved is committed to creating the ‘teachers of the future’.
For the full report, please click here