A PETITION calling for a decision to deny University of South Wales' (USW) teacher training course official accreditation to be overturned has been signed by more than 1,800 people.

The shock announcement by the Education Workforce Council, which will apply for the 2019-2020 academic year, was met with widespread dismay last month.

And now a petition calling for the decision to be reversed has been signed by 1,840 people - and counting.

The petition, set up by student teacher Zoe McGee-Morris, reads: "The Education Workforce Council has recently announced that University of South Wales will no longer have the opportunity to offer teacher-training from September 2019.

"Although this does not affect the students already enrolled and on the course this does however affect the opportunities for young adults wanting to study education as there is less option of places for them to study at.

"Furthermore, as a student teacher at USW, I have been given the best learning spaces, the best resources, the best choice of schools to train in and the best training possible and others should have this opportunity too!

"So please sign this petition in hope to help the university’s appeal to change the minds of the regulators."

The omission of USW from the list of accredited courses came after the university had pumped significant extra resources into its teacher training in recent years. The university has said it will appeal against the decision.

A spokesman said: "We have not instigated this petition, but it reflects the wide concern across the whole region at this decision.

"Schools on the ground know our reputation, they know the focus and investment we’ve put into Initial Teacher Education, and most of all they appreciate the quality of the student teachers they get from us.

"We appreciate the support that is being expressed by people from headteachers and students to political leaders.

"The decision doesn’t reflect on the excellent courses that we deliver now, our great new facilities, our partnerships, or our proud history of training great teachers in Gwent.

"USW’s expertise has been sought in recent years by other Welsh universities who want to improve their teacher training, so we know it’s not about what we currently do."

He added: "Our new intake of teacher training students will start as planned in September, and we’re continuing to teach and support the hundreds of our student teachers already doing their courses at USW.

"We are appealing.

"This is the first round of a new process with a new body, using new criteria.

"It isn’t clear how this outcome has been reached.

"We’re going through the fine detail of the decision so that our appeal will be both comprehensive and robust.

"It’s important that this is a meaningful appeal process that keeps choices open for future students, and natural justice would expect that no student numbers will be allocated to any of the other teacher training groups until the appeal can run its course.

"This is not just a paper exercise.

"It has a wider impact on partner schools across the whole region, and individual future teachers in many communities and families, especially in Gwent and the Valleys."

The Argus was unable to reach Ms McGee-Morris for comment.