Guidance

Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2025 to 2026

Updated 10 October 2024

Applies to England

Overview

The Department for Education (DfE) is responsible for managing grant funding associated with school initial teacher training (ITT) courses.

This guidance refers to ITT funding for the academic year 2025 to 2026.

For the academic year 2024 to 2025 read Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2024 to 2025.

Postgraduate bursaries and scholarships

Bursaries and scholarships are available to trainees on tuition fee-based teacher training courses in England that lead to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS).

Receiving a bursary or scholarship depends on the trainee’s:

• highest relevant academic award
• ITT subject

In languages and physics, trainees starting courses in the academic year 2025 to 2026 will not need to be eligible for student finance to be eligible for a bursary or scholarship.

In all other subjects, trainees are only eligible for a bursary or scholarship if they are entitled to support under the student finance criteria.

Non-UK trainees should read Train to teach in England as a non-UK citizen. Applicants with a degree from outside the UK should use Teach in England if you trained outside the UK.

For 2025 to 2026 we are offering bursaries of:

• £29,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 in biology, design and technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages)
• £10,000 in art and design, music and religious education (RE)
• £5,000 in English

Applicants may be eligible for a bursary if they have 1st, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or master’s.

We are offering scholarships of:

• £31,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £28,000 in French, German and Spanish (no other languages)

Scholarships are usually available to applicants with a 1st, 2:1, master’s or PhD, though in exceptional circumstances they may be awarded to a graduate with a 2:2 and significant relevant experience.

Scholarships also come with a package of additional benefits from the relevant scholarship body:

• tax free scholarship
• membership to the professional body
• subject specialist events and webinars held by professional bodies
• online and face-to-face workshops across the country
• subject specialist mentors and coaching
• community of scholars (ex-scholars, teachers, subject leaders)
• access to classroom resources
• continuing professional development (CPD) and networking events during ITT year and alumni

Scholarships are applied for separately to ITT and only awarded to high calibre students who pass a robust application and interview process in one of the specialist subject areas. Scholarships are awarded instead of a bursary.

Scholarship applicants should apply to the relevant scholarship body, details are available on Get Into Teaching.

Further guidance on postgraduate bursaries and scholarships is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

Undergraduate bursary

Undergraduates may be eligible for a bursary of £9,000 if:

• they’re studying a QTS course in secondary mathematics or physics
• they’re studying an opt-in QTS course in secondary undergraduate mathematics, physics, computing or languages
• their course starts in the academic year 2025 to 2026

They will receive the bursary in the final year of their course.

If an eligible trainee is on a 4-year undergraduate course that leads to QTS and a master’s degree, they will receive a £9,000 bursary in both the third and fourth years of their course.

Further guidance on undergraduate bursaries is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

Undergraduate veteran teaching bursary

Undergraduate veterans may be eligible for a £40,000 training bursary if:

• they’ve left full time employment with the British Army, Royal Air Force or Royal Navy
• they left no more than 5 years before the start of their course
• they enrol on an eligible QTS course in secondary biology, chemistry, computing, languages, mathematics or physics
• their course starts in the academic year 2025 to 2026

Trainees will receive £20,000 in each of the last 2 years of their course, in equal monthly instalments.

Further guidance on the undergraduate veteran teaching bursary is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

School Direct (salaried) route

For trainees on a School Direct (salaried) training route, we give grants to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school so that it can be used for its intended purpose.

Grants are paid on a per trainee basis. For 2025 to 2026 we are offering grants of:

• £29,000 for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 for biology, design and technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages)
• £10,000 for art and design, music and RE
• £5,000 for English

School Direct (salaried) trainees are not eligible for bursaries or scholarships.

Further guidance about School Direct (salaried) funding is available in the School Direct (salaried) funding manual.

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeships

For the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship training route, we give grants to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school so that it can be used for its intended purpose.

This grant is in addition to funding available from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), which is for training and assessment costs only.

For 2025 to 2026, postgraduate teaching apprenticeship grants in chemistry, computing, mathematics, physics, French, German and Spanish are the same value as the bursary. In other subjects, the grant will continue to be £9,000 lower.

The additional funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is available in all subjects.

Grants are paid on a per trainee basis. For 2025 to 2026 we are offering grants of:

• £29,000 for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 for French, German and Spanish (no other languages)
• £17,000 for other languages, biology, design and technology, and geography
• £1,000 for art and design, music and RE

Further guidance about postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding is available in the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding manual.

Teacher degree apprenticeship pilot

We are offering grants for up to 150 secondary mathematics trainees starting the teacher degree apprenticeship in academic year 2025 to 2026. The grants will be paid to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.  

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school so that it can be used for its intended purpose.

This grant is in addition to funding available from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), which is for training and assessment costs only.

The grants will cover the proportion of time trainees will spend studying towards their qualification, which we expect to be an average of 40% across the whole of the 4-year course. We will publish further details of the grant amounts and payment profile this autumn.

Grant funding agreements

The grant funding agreement is between the ITT provider and DfE. It sets out how you should treat the grant funding, along with the relevant funding manuals and DfE grant funding agreement: terms and conditions.

ITT providers will need to complete and return the relevant grant funding agreement if:

• they are a new ITT provider in the academic year 2025 to 2026
• they did not receive grant funding in the academic year 2024 to 2025, such as training bursary, School Direct (salaried) or postgraduate teaching apprenticeship

We will contact the relevant ITT providers before the start of academic year 2025 to 2026.

We will need to receive and accept the grant funding agreement before we release any grant funding. If you need more information, email [email protected].

Contact us

For funding and audit grant return queries, email the ITT funding team: [email protected]