This paper describes the Open University's Postgraduate Certificate in Education, a postgraduate preservice teacher training program in the United Kingdom. The program provides access to the teaching profession for those who cannot train by conventional routes. It is characterized by: distance education; school-based partnerships; an explicit framework of outcome assessment standards; a portfolio model of formative and summative assessment; a network of support via local tutors, regional seminars, and workshops; a regional and national e-mail and e-conference system; national availability; and part-time, asynchronous, home-based study. This supported open learning and school-university partnership model has proved successful in recruiting trainee teachers in the context of a United Kingdom teacher recruitment crisis, widening access to the profession for underrepresented groups and promoting the professional dimension in teacher assessment. This teacher education model, and its systems, structures, and underlying principles, has been the basis of a number of successful international collaborations, including with the United States, where there are common issues of teacher quality, teacher recruitment, and school improvement. (SM)