Mandatory Qualifications for HI, VI and MSI Teachers - the MQ

All qualified teachers of HI, MSI and VI children and young people are required to hold a specialist Mandatory Qualification, often known as the MQ.
The UK government guidance on the mandatory qualification can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mandatory-qualifications-specialist-teachers

MQ Documents in the Document Library

The Mandatory Qualification also has its own section in the  NatSIP document library.  You can find the MQ section here.

Looking for training pathways information?

See the Training Pathways section of the Sensory Learning Hub.  You can find the TP section here.

Mandatory Qualification

The mandatory qualification course providers in England, together with NatSIP, NDCS, View, BATOD, and RNIB, have been working with a small group of sensory professionals over the last five years to develop the Sensory Teachers (QTSI) apprenticeship. This Trailblazer Group has been led by Rory McDonnell (Kent County Council) and Tina Wakefield (for NDCS) and they are thanked for all their work.

All the key documentation for the apprenticeship was approved by the previous Secretary of State for Education in October 2023. Since that time staff from the Universities of Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham, as well as Mary Hare, and Seashell with Liverpool John Moore's University have been working on delivering the apprenticeship route for Sensory Teacher courses for September 2025. They all still hope to maintain this timeline but the government is conducting a review of apprenticeships at the moment. One of the serious options the government are considering is to no longer support level 7 apprenticeships, including the Sensory Teachers Apprenticeship.

Concerns about this have been raised to the current Secretary of State and there has been recent formal communication between both NatSIP and NDCS with the Minister for Skills. We are currently waiting for the government to announce the results of their review of apprenticeships.

Whilst this uncertainty continues it is recommended that teachers for children with SI (deaf/HI, Deafblind/ MSI and VI) who require the mandatory qualification apply throuigh the usual University routes for the MQ courses. As soon as clear information is available from the government it will be shared.

 

The University of Manchester now have 3 bursaries available to support study on the MSc/PGDip in Deaf Education at Manchester. 

To be eligible for the bursary teachers need to:

  • Hold an offer to study with the University of Manchester (we are open to applications now)
  • Are not currently working as a teacher with D/deaf CYP

These bursaries are a great way to attract teachers into the field of Deaf Education and can support succession planning for services in the longer term - the more QToDs we have the better! If you're not sure if your identified person is eligible, drop me an email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

There is funding available for up to 8 teachers.  For more information on the specific criteria, including closing dates, please visit our website: MSc/PGDip Deaf Education (2025 entry) | The University of Manchester

Seashell Trust has been awarded a contract by the DfE to offer a PG Diploma Mandatory Qualification in MSI.  The course will start in September 2024.

This qualification to achieve Qualified Teacher of Multi-Sensory Impairment (QTMSI) is provided by Seashell and will be validated by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), which will provide quality assurance and award the Postgraduate Diploma.

This new course offers teachers wishing to specialise in MSI a choice of training course and establishment again. This ensures children with MSI have access to the specialists they need and enhances availability of course providers for the sensory impairment sector.

The Seashell Trust MQ course will be delivered through distance learning and also offer ample opportunity to visit the Seashell site and benefit from the specialist facilities there.

Expressions of interest and applications are open now and you can find out more here: https://www.seashelltrust.org.uk/mqmsi-pgdip/. 

On 7th September 2023 the teacher for the sensory impaired (QTSI) apprenticeship was approved by IfATE (the Insitute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education) .https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/

  • The Trailblazer Group is assisting University course providers to prepare for delivery of their training as an apprenticeship. The apprenticeship will only be possible once a suitable end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) has given an ‘in principle’ commitment to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to deliver assessments on this apprenticeship standard.

 

  • It is very important that sudent intakes for September 2024 continue to apply to the University course providers for the delivery of the MQs as they are now.

 

The Trailblazer Group led by Rory McDonnell and Tina Wakefield are to be congratulated and thanked for all their work and support to reach this stage. It is also important to thank colleagues in IfATE for their help during the process. Whilst there is still work to be done before we are able to start the QTSI Apprenticeship this is an amazing achievment for the SI sector. Thank you.

Following NatSIP work for the Department for Education on the Future of the Sensory Impaired workforce, in 2019/20 DfE engaged NatSIP in the revision of Mandatory Qualification Standards across the three specialist areas for teachers of children and young people with Hearing Impairment/deaf (QToDs), Multi sensory Impairment/deafblind (QTMSIs) and Vision Impairment (QTVIs). 

The requirements of the DfE were that the new standards should reflect the changing landscape in education, be flexible in order to continue to meet the needs of SI children, align with DfE priorities to co-design and deliver training in an increasingly school led system and raise aspirations for children and young people with SI.

As a result of the collaborative working and consultations across the sector new standards for the Mandatory Qualifications for Teaching Children with Sensory Impairment are in place and were published alongside the SEND and AR Improvement Plan in March 2023.

The three different mandatory qualifications provide the opportunity for professional development and essential grounding in highly specialist skills to ensure that children and young people with sensory impairments can have equality of access to education, opportunities to develop independence and be prepared for successful adult life. The qualifications provide teachers with the tools to develop and maintain the knowledge, understanding and skills within a dynamic and changing educational environment.

The Mandatory Qualifications for Teaching Children with Sensory Impairment continue to be open for applications from the course providers in University of Birmingham (HI, MSI, VI), University of Edinburgh (VI), University of Hertfordshire with Mary Hare School (HI), University of Leeds (HI), University of Manchester (HI), Liverpool John Moores University with St Vincent's School (VI) and with Seashell Trust (MSI).  Recruitment is underway for September 2024.