It was confirmed last week that the £250,000 crowd-funding campaign to support the launch of the College of Teaching had failed – raising around £20,000.
The founding trustees of the College have now said they will be concentrating on launching the membership offer this autumn and will be listening to feedback from teachers, including via its Big Staff Meeting consultation, which closed last week. Further consultation work will also be carried out this summer, they confirmed.
A statement from the College said: “The crowdfunding campaign is closing (on Thursday, February 25) as planned. As the target will not be met, the College of Teaching will not be taking any money from the accounts of those who have pledged and any payment details will be removed from the system.
“Over 20,000 teachers have been reached through the campaign and while there is continued interest and appetite for the College, teachers have told us they want more detailed information about what the College will offer members before they commit funds. We have listened to that feedback and are concentrating on launching the membership offer in the autumn.”
Speaking to SecEd in January, chair of the College, Claire Dockar – a secondary maths teacher in Plymouth – said that if all went to plan the College would be open for members to join from September.
However, she acknowledged then that key tasks in the coming months would be finalising the membership offer and the level of fees that members would have to pay.
As a result of the funding blow, the College now plans further consultation with teachers in the coming months. The statement added: “The College is supported by incredible volunteers and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their time, energy and ideas. As an emerging organisation, we recognise that we need to continue to extend our reach across the country and will be engaging in further consultation in the summer term.”
The College is a registered charity and in January submitted a petition to the Privy Council seeking approval of the Royal Charter that has been donated from the existing College of Teachers charity.
For updates on the College, visit www.claimyourcollege.org.uk