Study visits

In recent years, around 250 Oxfordshire teachers have left the UK each year to visit schools abroad as part of a wide professional development programme managed in the main by the OIEB.

Funding for these programmes come - directly or indirectly - from the DCSF, the DfID or the EU. Other smaller sources of funding are available from elsewhere but these are exceptional and often difficult to access.

The DCSF’s main programme is the Teachers’ International Professional Development programme (TIPD) which, since 2000, has allowed teachers in Oxfordshire to travel to destinations such as Bali, Beijing, Barbados, Tokyo, Virginia and South Africa.

Study visits are enriching experiences allowing teachers to compare and contrast their own practice with the practice of teachers elsewhere and bring back examples of best practice.

In most case, funding covers flights, accommodation, insurance and transportation to host schools. Places are allocated in priority to teachers whose schools are subscribed to the OIEB.