Every teacher deserves protected, purposeful planning time, but achieving good PPA cover can be a challenge.
Too often, schools struggle with cover that strains budgets or adds stress, rather than supporting teachers and pupils effectively.
So, how can you tell if your current PPA provision is truly working- for teachers, pupils and school leaders?
➔ Download our PPA Cover Checklist to score your current solution
- Who Delivers Your PPA Cover?
- Is Your Cover Reliable?
- Quality Assurance
- Can You Trust Your PPA Provision?
- Why Good PPA Cover Matters
Who Delivers good PPA Cover For Your Teachers? Are They Subject Specialists Who Inspire?
Good PPA cover shouldn’t feel like “filling time.” Children deserve to be taught by passionate specialists who bring lessons to life.
Whether it’s PE, Music, MFL, Drama or Art, expertise matters. It makes the difference between sessions that just pass the time and sessions that genuinely develop children’s skills and confidence.
💭 Ask yourself: If an Ofsted inspector walked into a PPA cover lesson tomorrow, would you be confident in the quality of teaching and learning they’d see?
Consistency Matters: How Reliable Is Your PPA Provision?
Few things disrupt a school day more than scrambling to cover absences.
A high-quality PPA provider should take responsibility for their own staffing, ensuring that if one practitioner is away, another fully vetted and qualified member of the team steps in seamlessly.
💭 Ask yourself: Do you feel confident that your cover will always be there, delivered to the same high standard, week in and week out?
Who Checks The Quality of Your PPA Cover?
Not all cover is equal.
The best providers go beyond sending staff into schools.
They have processes to monitor, review, and continually improve the teaching being delivered.
At LSC, for example, our dedicated quality assurance team visits schools daily to support and upskill our practitioners, ensuring standards remain consistently high
💭 Ask yourself: Do you feel confident that your cover will always be there, delivered to the same high standard, week in and week out?
Transparency and Expectations : A Proven Process You Can Trust.
Bringing in external cover shouldn’t feel risky.
Schools should expect a clear, structured journey that ensures smooth communication, consistency, and accountability at every stage.
With our LSC Customer Journey Map, for example, we set out exactly how we work with schools so there are no surprises, just reliable, professional cover from day one.
A Guarantee of Standards
Good cover should give schools peace of mind.
That means not only delivering lessons to the highest standard, but also standing by that promise.
Our Half Term Guarantee ensures schools always get the value and quality they deserve, because outsourcing PPA cover should never feel like a gamble.
Why Good PPA Cover Matters
When PPA cover is high quality, it benefits everyone:
✅ Teachers get genuine time to plan, prepare and assess, knowing their class is in safe hands.
✅ Pupils experience engaging, specialist-led lessons that broaden their skills and enjoyment of school.
✅ Leaders gain peace of mind, with reliable provision that fits seamlessly into the school day.
Working with over 250 schools across the UK, we’ve seen first-hand how transformative the right PPA solution can be.
The best feedback we hear is that our staff feel like part of the school team, delivering consistency, quality, and energy without the challenges of direct employment.
Take Action: Assess Your PPA Provision Today
Halfway through the first term is the perfect time to review. Ask yourself: Is your current cover truly delivering value, or is it costing more than it gives?
👉 Download our Good PPA Cover checklist now to benchmark your provision and ensure the rest of the year runs smoothly.
What makes good PPA cover?
Good PPA cover is more than just supervision- it’s consistent, specialist-led teaching that benefits teachers, engages pupils, and supports school leaders. High-quality PPA provision ensures lessons run smoothly, reduces stress, and delivers real value for money. Use our checklist to assess your current cover and see how it measures up against the standards of truly effective PPA.