Designed by Henry Millicer, it was a single-engined low-wing monoplane, furnished with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage and, like the preceding Prentice, had a side-by-side seating arrangement.

First flying on 24 February 1950, the prototypes participated in an official evaluation, after which the type was selected to meet Air Ministry specification T.16/48.

[1] A major priority of the specification was to introduce more direct supervision and observation of student pilots by instructors in order to reduce the rate of late-stage dropouts.

[2] On 11 September 1948, this specification was issued, attracting the attention of various aviation companies; the Air Ministry ultimately received in excess of 30 proposals.

[1] After reviewing the numerous submissions, the Air Ministry selected a pair of designs, the Percival P.56 and the Handley Page H.P.R.

On 13 January 1950, Percival was received its contract for a pair of prototypes, both of which being powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah engine.

The Provost was an all-metal, single-engined, two-seat monoplane, featuring fixed conventional landing gear with a fully-castering tailwheel.

The main two seats in the cockpit were positioned in a side-by-side configuration, enabling the instructor to sit directly alongside the student, easing training by allowing for mutual close observation and for flight procedures to be more readily demonstrated; a third seat had been originally specified for use by an observer, but this position was later omitted following little use.

[3] The type was designed to be easy to maintain; various components were intentionally interchangeable where possible and there was a generous provision of access hatches in the fuselage.

[10] Its performance level has been contrasted to that of aerobatic aircraft, which strongly appealed to some instructor-pilots, although it was deemed to be somewhat excessive for general flying purposes.

[3] According to aviation periodical Flight International, the stall characteristics of the Provost were relatively gentle, it was also quite easy to recover from a spin.

[13] According to author David Ogilvy, the complexity of the cockpit was a deliberate design choice; contrary to earlier trainer aircraft, which were typically simplified so students would find them easy to fly, the Provost intentionally exposed beginners to an advanced environment more representative of the varied tasks of aircraft operations.

[citation needed] In 1954, the Burmese Air Force also ordered 12 armed T.53 variants and eventually operated a total of 40 aircraft.

[citation needed] In May 1957, the newly formed Sudan Air Force ordered four T.53 armed variant; two were lost in accidents shortly after delivery, a further three were bought in 1959, followed by five former RAF aircraft.