If you are interested in undertaking a piece of research or professional study, The College of Teachers’ Associateship programme may be just what you are looking for. This qualification is based on candidates demonstrating a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience within education.

An Associateship from The College of Teachers can widen your horizons and open up numerous opportunities for career advancement. The qualification of Associate (ACOT) is evidence of your ongoing commitment to development of professional practice.

The programme leading to the award of Associate of The College of Teachers provides an opportunity for experienced teachers, administrators and others working in the educational service to carry out an investigation of a selected topic in the field of education.

Before registering for the qualification all candidates must have had at least two years of satisfactory full-time teaching experience. To qualify to proceed to the Associateship, a recognised teacher must obtain either one or two COES qualifications depending on their teaching experience or equivalent or a DOES. Normally, The College would expect that at least one of the qualifications would relate to the area of continuing professional development being undertaken.

The routes to the Associateship are dependent on experience, and an experienced teacher of four years’ standing may achieve and Associateship with two COES or one DOES and a report of 2,500 words normally based on an extension of the COES/DOES work, while an experienced teacher of six years’ standing would only require a dissertation of 5,000 words to achieve a full Associateship.

Candidates working at this level should possesses the ability to increase their depth of knowledge and understanding of an area of work or study and to enable the formulation of solutions and responses to complex problems and situations.

Learning at this level involves the demonstration of high levels of knowledge, a high level of work expertise in job roles and competence in managing and training others.

Level 5 qualifications are at a level equivalent to intermediate Higher Education qualifications such as Diplomas of Higher Education, Foundation and other degrees that do not typically provide access to postgraduate programmes.

The College of Teachers' qualifications are independently valid and stand alongside the National Qualification Framework (NQF) and Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ).