Education is awash with acronyms. ITT is tricky at the best of times, but it can be even harder if you don't know your SLT from your HOYs, HODs or HOFs – or your LOs from your LOs (yes, there are two kinds). Here's our brief guide to the acronyms you are most likely to come across regularly (we would rival War and Peace if we included them all).
A
ACS – Average class size
Afl – Assessment for learning
ALIS – Advanced Level Indicator System (a personalised monitoring system for older students)
ALPS – Advanced Level Performance System (a programme, based on a national database, that provides reports for schools to help them benchmark and analyse post- 16 performance) AOT – Adult other than teacher
ASD – Autistic spectrum disorder
ASCL – Association of School and College Leaders
AT – Attainment target
ATL – Association of Teachers and Lecturers (a teaching union, which joined with NUT in September 2017 to become the NEU, see below)
B
BIP – Behaviour improvement plan
BSP – Behaviour support plan
BTEC – Business and Technology Education Council qualification
C
CAF – Common assessment framework (a tool that agencies use to assess if children and families need extra support)
CAMHS – Child and Adult Mental Health Services (an NHS service that assesses and treats young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties)
CCT – Chartered College of Teaching
CIF – Common inspection framework (sets out how Ofsted will inspect schools)
CoP – Code of practice
CP – Child protection
CPD – Continuous professional development
CPDL – Continuous professional development and learning (the same as above)
D
DCPO – Designated child protection officer
DfE – Department for Education
E
EAL – English as an additional language
Ebacc – English Baccalaureate
EBSD – Emotional, behavioural and social difficulties
EFL – English as a foreign language
EHCP – Education Health and Care Plan (These recently replaced statements of SEND – they document a child's health, educational and social needs, and the adjustments required to support them)
EIP – Early intervention programme
EWO – Education Welfare Officer (usually employed by councils, they work with schools and families to encourage regular attendance)
EY – Early years
EYFS – Early years foundation stage
F
FFT – Fischer Family Trust (a charity that supports education research in the UK. It has a number of subsidiaries – FFT Education Limited provides lots of data and analysis to schools about pupil performance, and the trust also set up Education Datalab, a centre for education research)
FSM – Free school meals
FTE – Fixed-term exclusion (or it could be full-time equivalent)
G
GB – Governing board
GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education
GNVQ – General National Vocational Qualification
GSA – Girls' School Association (represents the heads of some independent and boarding schools)
G&T – Gifted and talented
GTC – General Teaching Council (used to regulate teachers and advise government but was scrapped)
H
HLTA – Higher level teaching assistant
HMC – Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (a professional association for leaders of top independent schools)
HMCI – Her Majesty's Chief Inspector (the head of Ofsted, currently Amanda Spielman)
HMI – Her Majesty's Inspector (an Ofsted Inspector)
HOD – Head of department
HOF – Head of faculty
HOY – Head of year
HT – Headteacher
HTB – Headteacher board (a group of academy and local school leaders who support and challenge regional schools commissioners)
I
IB – International Baccalaureate
IBP – Individual behaviour plan
IEP – Individual education plan/programme
ILR – Individualised Learner Record (FE's main data collection of the year. All publicly funded FE providers have to submit information that is used to monitor the sector.)
INSET – In-service education and training
ISA – Independent Schools Association (a representative body for heads and staff in independent schools)
ISB – Individual schools budget
ISC – Independent Schools Council (a service organisation that supports and speaks for independent schools and a range of associations in the independent sector)
ISI – Independent Schools Inspectorate (like Ofsted for independent schools that are members of the ISC)
ITE – Initial teacher education
ITT – Initial teacher training
IWB – Interactive whiteboard
J
JAR – Joint Area Review (a report into local services for young people)
K
KS – Key stage (so KS1 would be key stage one – five- to seven-year-olds)
L
LA – Local authority
LAC – Looked after children (any child cared for by the local authority, for example, in foster care or at home but monitored by social services)
LEA – Local education authority
LO – Learning objective
LO – Lesson observation
LSA – Learning support assistant
M
MAT – Multi-academy trust
MFL – Modern foreign languages
MLD – Moderate learning difficulties
N
NAHT – National Association of Head Teachers
NASBM – The National Association of School Business Management (a trade association for school business managers)
NASUWT – National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers
NCTL – National College for Teaching and Leadership (in charge of developing the teaching workforce, including allocating teacher training places, developing teaching schools and dishing out prohibition orders for disciplinary hearings)
NEU – National Education Union (an amalgamation of the NUT – see below – and ATL – see above – teaching unions that started in September 2017 with full amalgamation in 2019) NPQ – National professional qualification
NtG – Narrowing the gap
NUT – National Union of Teachers
NQT – Newly-qualified teacher
O
Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education
Ofqual – Office for Qualifications and Examinations Regulator
P
PCGE – Postgraduate Certificate of Education
PP – Pupil premium (additional funding that is specifically to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils)
PPA – Planning, preparation and assessment
PRP – Performance-related pay
PRU – Pupil referral unit
PSHE – Personal, social and health education (if you see a C near the end, it also includes citizenship)
PTA – Parent teacher association
PTR – Pupil teacher ratio
Q
QTS – Qualified teacher status
R
RAISEonline – Reporting and Analysis for Improvement through School Self Evaluation (online)
RoA – Record of achievement
RSC – Regional schools commissioner (these support and manage academies and free schools in their areas)
S
SATs – Statutory Assessment Tasks
Scitt – School-centred initial teacher training
SCR – Single central record
SDP – School development plan
SEF – Self evaluation form
SEN – Special educational needs
SENCo – Special educational needs coordinator
SEND – Special educational needs and disability
SIMS – School Information Management System (a data tool that many schools use)
SIP – School improvement plan
SLD – Severe learning difficulties
SLE – Specialist leader in education (experienced middle and senior leaders who support colleagues in other schools with leadership)
SLT – Senior leadership team
SMT – Senior management team
SoW – Scheme of work
SPaG – Spelling punctuation and grammar
STRB – School Teachers Review Body (an advisory body that makes recommendations to government about salaries, duties and working hours, among other things)
T
TA – Teaching assistant
TES – Times Educational Supplement
TGIF – Thank God it's Friday (a feeling every student teacher will know well)
U
UPS – Upper pay scale
UCAS – University and College Admissions Service
V
VLE – virtual learning environment (online platforms where teachers can deliver learning, share materials and communicate with students)
This article is taken from the EdCentral Alternative Student Teacher Manual, which is available to download for free.