Ofsted gave University of Winchester teacher training its top grade, Exceptional, for inclusion and for professional behaviours and wellbeing, in both phases.

The University of Winchester’s teacher training has been given Ofsted’s highest grade in two of the five areas it now inspects. Inspectors rated it Exceptional for inclusion. They gave the same grade for professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing. Both grades apply to the primary and the secondary courses.

The other three areas were rated Strong standard, the second grade on the scale. Those are achievement, curriculum and training, and leadership. Safeguarding and the other compliance checks were all met.

Inspectors visited from 12 May 2026. Ofsted published the report on 4 August (Ofsted, University of Winchester).

A new kind of report

This is the university’s first inspection under Ofsted’s new report cards for teacher training, which replaced the old framework in January 2026 (GOV.UK). Single-word verdicts such as Outstanding have gone. Each area now gets one of five grades:

  • Exceptional
  • Strong standard
  • Expected standard
  • Needs attention
  • Urgent improvement

Ofsted’s report defines Exceptional as practice “of the highest standard nationally”, which other providers can learn from. Strong standard means leaders “are working above the standard expected of them”.

Under the old system, Winchester was judged Outstanding for both primary and secondary training at its March 2024 inspection. That report records Outstanding for both at the inspection before it, too.

Chart of Ofsted grades for University of Winchester teacher training, inspected 12 May 2026. Primary and secondary both rated Exceptional for inclusion and for professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing, and Strong standard for achievement, for curriculum, teaching and training, and for leadership. Compliance, including safeguarding, met in both. 571 primary and 65 secondary trainees at the time of inspection
The same five grades for both phases. Source: Ofsted inspection report, 12 May 2026.
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What the inspectors found

The report’s praise is specific, and several details are unusual for an inspection report.

  • Inclusion. Primary leaders show “an unwavering and tenacious commitment to inclusion”, the inspectors wrote. Support plans for trainees with identified needs are drawn up from the recruitment stage and adjusted as those needs change.
  • Removing practical barriers. The university runs car-sharing arrangements and a professional clothing exchange, so trainees can get to placements and look the part. Trainees are also expected to wear placement clothes when they attend the university.
  • Pastoral care. Both phases call it “a defining strength”. The report says staff know trainees as individuals and step in early when attendance slips.
  • Belonging. “The genuine sense of belonging is a hallmark of the trainee experience,” the report says.
  • Secondary inclusion work. Inspectors highlighted work on anti-racist classrooms and support spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender trainees.
  • New courses. The primary team has added postgraduate specialist routes in physical education and in special educational needs and disabilities, “to reflect current sector needs”.

Completion rates are described as high in both phases. The report lists no weaknesses. Its next steps ask leaders to keep refining work that is already highly effective.

Who trains there

Ofsted counted 571 primary trainees and 65 secondary trainees on the inspection date.

  • Primary: 478 on the undergraduate route to qualified teacher status, and 93 on a postgraduate certificate (PGCE), either campus-based or school-led.
  • Secondary: 46 on a school-led postgraduate route, and 19 on the PGCE in humanities. The humanities trainees qualify in two of geography, history and religious studies.

Trainees learn to teach children aged 3 to 7, 5 to 11 or 11 to 16. The 2024 report counted 644 primary trainees, so this year’s figure is 73 lower. Both counts are snapshots taken on the day of each inspection, and Ofsted notes that newer data may since have been published.

What it means for you

  • If your child is at a Hampshire school, there is a good chance a Winchester trainee has taught them. The 2024 report said the university worked with 380 primary schools and 55 secondary schools across 12 local authorities. The 2026 report counts eight training partners instead, which is a different measure, so the two figures cannot be compared.
  • If you are thinking about teaching, the university holds undergraduate open days on Saturday 12 September, Saturday 10 October and Saturday 28 November. Its open days page has the full list.
  • If you are driving to the campus on Sparkford Road this weekend, M3 junction 9 is shut until 6am on Monday. Our roadworks page has the diversions.

Sources