This article considers the impact of recent political decisions on the provision of teacher education and the continuing development of teachers in England. It tracks how successive governments have changed the requirements necessary to become a teacher as circumstances have changed in the country and considers the impact of these changes on higher education institutions. It considers the range of ways in which someone might now become a teacher and the various providers that might become involved in this process. The recent coalition government's use of the term "initial teacher training" is used as means of identifying how the views of this government differ from others that use the term "initial teacher education" and what this means to both teachers and universities.