Frequently Asked Questions.
What can I look to gain from The School Led ITT Partnership?
If you complete the School Direct training programme successfully you will gain a PGCE with 60 Masters level credits. From here you can take up employment and continue with your studies as an Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT).
How is the The School Led ITT Partnership programme funded?
If you are offered a place on this programme, tuition fees of £9250 will be applied.
There are a number of tax free bursaries or scholarships that you may be eligible for, in addition to the loans offered through student finance. Bursaries and scholarships are dependent upon a number of factors, including, degree specialism and classification.
Full details of bursaries and scholarships can be found on the Teacher Agency website:www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/funding.aspx
Details of student finance can be found on: www.gov.uk/teacher-training-funding
For specialist/shortage subjects such as Physics, the Insititute of Physics (IOP) offers up to £28,000 funding to support Physics teacher training. Visit www.iop.org/teachphysics for more information.
Will I get thrown in the deep end, teaching classes by myself early on?
You are part of a team from the start and receive intensive support from experienced teachers in the classroom. You won’t be teaching classes unsupported until the school thinks you are ready, and opportunities will exist to build networks with fellow trainees.
Will I only train in one school? I want something broader than this.
To become a qualified teacher, you have to take training placements in two schools. Trainees will train in at least two schools – and will usually spend time in other schools too.
As part of our School Direct programme, we try to ensure that our associate teachers train in a contrasting school from their home school, for their alternative placements.
Is there academic or theoretical training? Will I get a PGCE?
You will spend plenty of time in academic training, comparable to the university-led route. Most school-led courses result in a Master’s-level qualification such as a PGCE as well as qualified teacher status (QTS).
Don’t most people just go to university to do teacher training?
School-led routes into teaching have been around for many years, and have very high rates of trainee satisfaction. This year half of postgraduate teacher training places were school-led.
Will I receive the same level of financial support that I would following a university-led path to teaching?
You could get a £26k tax-free bursary to train as a teacher on both school-led teacher training and a traditional university-led path. With an option to earn a salary on School Direct (salaried), this route is suitable if you are already working at a school, or have work experience that you can demonstrate transfers to teaching.
Trainees on the salaried programme are recruited and employed directly by schools, and often continue teaching in their school following training. The amount you earn will be dependent on the school you train in and the subject you’re teaching.
Remember, tax-free bursaries and scholarships are available in some subjects on both school-led and university-led courses. On a School Direct (salaried) course, you’ll be paid and taxed as an unqualified teacher, so you should compare the bursary rate for your chosen subject with the salary on offer via School Direct (salaried) to work out which route would be best for your circumstances.
Is The School Led ITT Partnershipis the same as Teach First?
The School Led ITT Partnership is different from Teach First – Teach First trains 2,000 outstanding graduates in selected challenging schools. You apply directly to Teach First. School Direct has around 17,500 places available in schools of all types across the country. You apply for The School Led ITT Partnership through UCAS Teacher Training.
Are SCITTs the same as The School Led ITT Partnership?
SCITTs are schools which have been given government approval to run their own training courses. They can be searched for under ‘SCITT programme’ on UCAS. Many SCITTs and around 8,000 schools also offer School Led ITT Partnership programmes, which can be searched for under ‘The School Led ITT Partnership training programme’ and ‘The School Led ITT Partnership training programme (salaried)’ on UCAS.
How does the School Led ITT Partnership differ from other graduate training routes into teaching?
The School Led ITT Partnership is an initiative which replaces the graduate teacher programme and gives schools greater control over recruiting and developing new entrants to the profession. It shifts responsibility for teacher training away from university PGCE courses and towards schools, although training schools are still expected to have a university partner.
The Association of School and College Leaders has produced a route map into teaching to help address the lack of clarity over the array of routes into the profession .
What schools will I be able to train in?
Our partnership includes St Hildas C of E High School and The Belvedere Academy. With an option to spend an alternative placement in the academy of St Francis of Assisi.