Accrediting success: Evaluation of a pilot professional development scheme for teachers of sex and relationship education

This paper reports on findings from an evaluation of a pilot accreditation scheme for teachers of sex and relationships education (SRE) in England. The scheme was introduced as part of national measures to reduce rates of teenage conception. Illuminative and participatory methods were used to elicit stakeholder accounts from primary, secondary and special school teachers enrolled in the scheme, their line managers, local SRE coordinators, national officers and national assessors. Data were analysed thematically. This paper describes the process of recruitment to the scheme, competing perspectives on benefits from accreditation, factors hindering and facilitating implementation, and infrastructural support. Overall, the scheme exemplified a number of features of effective professional development for teachers of SRE in schools. A national scheme, developed in the light of findings from this pilot evaluation, is currently being implemented across England.