Teacher education providers have to show regulators more than trainee attainment. They have to show that assessment, mentoring and support work consistently across every school and route. At the University of Sunderland, trainee portfolios were once held by individual students. That made it hard for leaders to see progress, quality assure mentor feedback or spot trainees who needed support. In this 26-minute session from MiniBash 2025, Martin Holt and Simon Sheard explain how PebblePad now brings trainees, school mentors, tutors and international partners into one shared space. Leaders can see progress at individual and cohort level, monitor mentor engagement and act early. It gives them the evidence they need for inspection and continuous improvement.
Key themes include:
- Using PebblePad as a one‑stop shop for planning, monitoring, and subject development
- Supporting large‑scale teacher education provision across schools and international contexts
- Improving oversight, consistency, and quality assurance for regulator‑driven programmes
- Embedding dialogic (tripartite) assessment involving trainees, mentors, and academics
- Enabling authentic assessment through video, presentations, and live feedback
- Tracking subject knowledge development and professional growth over time sing Atlas reporting to support real‑time intervention and student success
- Supporting mentors through clear structure, ease of use, and targeted onboarding
- Encouraging long‑term ownership through alumni portfolios and professional development
The session highlights how PebblePad supports authentic assessment, meaningful feedback, and strong partnerships — while remaining simple, structured, and scalable for busy educational contexts.
Further reading
View the session slides in the University of Sunderland’s research repository.