Since the announcement of the Troops to Teachers programme, we have focused on increasing the number of service leavers undertaking initial teacher training (ITT). The Department began recording the number of service leavers applying for ITT courses from March 2011. Between 1 March 2011 to the end of August 2011, 27 service leavers applied for ITT courses, of which 21¹ were accepted.

This year we allocated an additional 50 places on the Graduate Teacher Programme, which will be available to service leavers exclusively. We plan to allocate further places on an annual basis.

Troops to teachers feeds into the Military Skills and Ethos in Schools project, which aims to bring together the work that is dispersed throughout the Department in this area.

Teach First received 3,082 applications in 2010, of which 560 were accepted onto the programme and 5,324 in 2011, of which 772² were accepted onto the programme. The 2012 application round has not been finalised; however, Teach First has confirmed receipt of 7,113 applications for 1,000 places.¹ Data Teaching Agency May 2012² Data Teach First May 2012

The Operation of disciplinary procedures in schools, including dealing with teacher incompetence, is a matter for schools and local authorities as employers. Accordingly the information requested about the dismissal of teachers is not held centrally.

The Department for Education has recently published new procedures for schools to use when dealing with underperforming teachers. These new arrangements are shorter and less complex than the current procedure and are due to come into effect in September 2012.

The information requested is not available in the format requested.

Time series information is available on the numbers of teachers retiring from publicly funded schools. This information is available in the ‘additional tables from the Statistical First Release’ section of the ‘School Workforce In England, November 2010 (Provisional)’ publication which is available on the Department's website:

http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00196713/school-workforce-sfr

The information is not available in the format requested.

The Government funded 3,200 teachers to undertake postgraduate qualifications in dyslexia between 2009 and 2011. These were accredited by the British Dyslexia Association and managed by the Dyslexia SpLD Trust (2009) and by the Training and Development Agency (2010 and 2011). In addition 9,000 Special Educational Needs co-ordinators have been funded to secure the mandatory masters qualification in the three years up to March 2011. This includes identifying and meeting the broad range of pupils' special educational needs and supporting classroom teachers to do so.

All teachers should have a clear understanding of the needs of pupils with special educational needs, including dyslexia. In order to be awarded qualified teacher status from September 2012, all trainee teachers must demonstrate that they can adapt their teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils, as set out in the new Teachers' Standards. Specifically, teachers will have to have a clear understanding of the needs of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.

The Secretary of State for Education does not set the content of initial teacher training courses or require that training providers deliver dyslexia awareness sessions. It is for training providers to decide what trainees

should be taught to enable them to achieve the Teachers' Standards. The Department does not mandate content of initial teacher training courses.