Guidance

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding manual: 2023 to 2024 academic year

Updated 28 November 2024

Applies to England

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship

The postgraduate teaching apprenticeship is an initial teacher training (ITT) route that:

• combines paid work with off-the-job training
• leads to qualified teacher status (QTS)

Costs

Grant funding is available as a contribution to the costs for qualifying trainees on postgraduate teaching apprenticeship courses. As the apprenticeship levy is restricted to training and assessment, providers may prefer to use the grant funding for salary costs.

Funding varies by subject and not all subjects are eligible for funding. A list of what course subjects are eligible for funding and the grant funding rates are included in this manual.

The apprenticeship levy

Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy can use up to £9,000 from their apprenticeship service account to cover the cost of:

• training
• assessing the apprentice

Employers that do not pay the levy, or who have insufficient funds in their digital account, can access funding to support training and assessment of an apprentice.

Read the guidance to find out more about apprenticeship funding.

Bursaries and student finance

As this is an employment-based ITT route, apprentices are not eligible for:

• an ITT training bursary
• student finance

Where grant funding is provided, you cannot charge trainees for the award of QTS.

You will need to inform your trainees if they need to pay any fees.

Apprenticeship structure

ITT providers and schools will decide the overall structure of the apprenticeship, but the apprentice must spend 20% of their time in off-the-job training. This should develop their skills, knowledge and competence in the classroom.

After completing the apprenticeship, the apprentice will be assessed against the teachers’ standards required to be awarded QTS. ITT providers will recommend that apprentices receive QTS in the usual way.

Apprentices will then complete an end-point assessment (EPA) in their fourth term. An assessor from an EPA organisation (an accredited ITT provider on the register of apprenticeship assessment organisations who has been independent to the training process) conducts the assessment, helping to quality-assure their training and development.

The assessment has 2 components:

• lesson observation
• professional discussion

Who can employ an apprentice

Schools in a School Direct partnership

Schools that are part of a School Direct partnership may already have many of the processes in place which are needed to employ an apprentice. Lead schools will need to:

• update their partnership agreements
• sign a grant funding agreement (GFA)

Lead schools

In a School Direct partnership, the lead school:

• is the agreed point of contact for the partnership
• holds the partnership’s apprenticeship and School Direct training places
• is responsible for the funding arrangements for the partnership
• is accountable for grant funding received, its distribution and assurance

A lead school must be one of the following:

• an academy
• a free school
• a city technology college
• a local-authority-maintained school
• a multi-academy trust (only one school within a MAT may act as a proxy lead school)
• a pupil referral unit (PRU)
• a sixth-form college
• a maintained special school

An independent school cannot act as a lead school in the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Partner schools

A partner school involved in ITT may employ an apprentice.

State-funded partner schools may:

• be the principal training school for an apprentice
• receive funding from the lead school

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive grant funding from the lead school. They may, however, be able to use funding from their apprenticeship service account to fund some or all of the training costs.

Read the guidance to find out more about apprenticeship funding.

Ofsted inspections

A school must be rated grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) by Ofsted to bid for places as a lead school. If a lead school falls below this grade in a new Ofsted inspection during the year but is not placed into special measures, then we will permit them to continue as a lead school until it is practical to switch the lead school status to another in the partnership.

If Ofsted places the lead school into special measures during the year, the ITT places must immediately be transferred to another lead school and all funding will be suspended until this action is completed.

Schools in special measures cannot recruit apprentices. If this happens after recruitment but before training starts, the apprentice will need to be transferred to another school in the partnership.

Employing schools can retain apprentices if they are placed in special measures after the apprentice has started employment and training, if the lead school and ITT provider agree that the continued employment at the school will not negatively affect the apprentice or the quality of their training.

The lead school and ITT provider must also be willing to offer any necessary support to the apprentice and placement school during both the training period and any subsequent employment as an early career teacher (ECT) in the school (should it remain in special measures). If the lead school or ITT provider cannot offer such assurance and support, then an alternative school within the partnership must employ the apprentice. Schools and providers should email [email protected] to arrange the transfer.

Schools not in a School Direct partnership

We recommend that schools join a partnership if they want to employ an apprentice.

Schools that are not Ofsted grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) for overall effectiveness must join a partnership to offer the apprenticeship.

Joining a partnership has clear benefits, including:

• greater opportunities to share expertise
• meeting the apprenticeship employment expectation
• implementing efficient management and administration of the programme

It may also:

• bring economies of scale, in negotiation with ITT providers
• allow access to additional funding

Schools that are rated grade 1 or grade 2 by Ofsted that do not wish to join an existing School Direct partnership, or are unable to do so, may wish to form a new partnership.

To become a School Direct lead school, email [email protected] for guidance on the criteria and process.

Working with ITT providers

Schools may also offer the apprenticeship in conjunction with an accredited ITT provider that has successfully joined the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP). The school must be rated grade 1 or grade 2 by Ofsted to do this.

Funding

Schools that are not part of a partnership cannot access grant funding for the subjects in which a grant is available. However, they may still be able to access up to £9,000 funding from their apprenticeship service account to contribute to training and assessment costs.

Role of ITT training providers

Schools can employ apprentices, but only accredited ITT providers can deliver the off-the-job training for the teaching apprenticeship.

Providers on the RoATP can provide apprenticeship training to levy- and non-levy-paying employers.

Providers that wish to deliver the apprenticeship EPA will also need to be on the register of EPA organisations. They must do this even if they have registered on the RoATP.

Offering places

Training providers must decide with an employing school whether they want to offer an apprenticeship place. If working with a lead school in a partnership, training providers will need agreement from both the employing school and the lead school.

Non-levy-paying employers

Non-levy-paying employers will be able to select a provider that has been successful in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) procurement to deliver apprenticeship training to employers that do not pay the levy.

The providers successful in the procurement are also able to enter into sub-contracting arrangements with other providers that did not participate in the procurement exercise.

Apprentice eligibility criteria

The employing school must ensure that each funded apprentice:

• meets the ITT criteria for all ITT programmes
• is eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher
• does not hold or is eligible to receive QTS

Eligibility for QTS

QTS is a legal requirement to teach in certain English schools and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England.

There are different routes to QTS depending on where the applicant qualified and whether they already have teaching experience. We will introduce a new approach to recognition from early 2023 that will enable suitably qualified teachers from all countries to apply for QTS if their qualifications, skills and experience meet the set criteria. More details on key criteria are set out in our policy paper published on 10 June 2022.

Teachers who do not meet the new criteria will need to complete an Initial Teacher Training course or apply for assessment-only QTS to demonstrate they meet the standards for QTS.

You must advise applicants to apply to us where potential equivalency is identified during the recruitment process – for example, during the application or interview stage.

Teachers who are successful in their application and receive QTS will not be eligible for a bursary. You can continue the bursary assessment of those trainees that are unsuccessful in their application to us. If they hold QTS and are still looking to undertake training – for example, to gain supported experience in an English school environment, they can be directed towards non-QTS ITT courses, such as a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) without QTS.

Potential apprentices who may already be eligible to receive QTS should email [email protected] or read the guidance at Qualified teacher status (QTS): qualify to teach in England for more information.

Teachers who are successful in their application to receive QTS will not qualify for funding. Those that are unsuccessful in their application to receive QTS may be eligible.

Qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS)

Individuals are recognised as qualified teachers and are not eligible for funding if they:

• hold qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) status
• are members of the Society for Education and Training (SET)

Members of SET must continue to maintain their registration for this recognition to be valid. An apprentice’s status can be checked on SET’s professional status register.

Early years teacher status (EYTS)

Apprentices who hold early years teacher status (EYTS) may:

• apply for an apprenticeship place
• be eligible for funding purposes

Permission to recruit

Schools interested in delivering the apprenticeship must have permission from us to recruit if they wish to access any associated grant funding. They must have partnered with an ITT provider that is registered on the RoATP before doing this.

Schools that are not in a School Direct partnership can allocate places without permission in subjects with unlimited recruitment, but they:

• must be rated as grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) by Ofsted
• will not be able to apply for grant funding

Schools that wish to become a School Direct lead school should email [email protected] for guidance on the criteria and process.

Changing ITT provider, School Direct partnership or training route

Ordinarily, we will not permit a lead school to change its partner ITT provider once it has registered a course. After a partnership agreement is drawn up and places have been advertised to applicants, the lead school should make all reasonable efforts to deliver the course as described. We will only consider a request from a lead school to change their partner ITT provider in exceptional circumstances.

A lead school must not transfer an apprentice from one partnership or ITT route to another without our prior agreement.

For further information about changing any aspect of courses that have been agreed with us, email [email protected]. All changes must be confirmed by us before a place is offered to any applicant.

Failure to fully comply with the criteria and requirements may result in:

• the withdrawal of funding to the lead school
• non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation

Grant funding rates

Grant funding will be paid to lead schools for each trainee depending on the subject of their ITT course. There are no funding region variations based upon the location of the employing school in the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Grant funding is not available for apprentices employed in a school that is not part of a School Direct partnership. Such schools may receive funding from their apprenticeship service account.

The grant funding amounts set out below apply to any postgraduate teaching apprenticeship that starts in the 2023 to 2024 academic year. Apprenticeships may start earlier, from 1 June 2023, but the first grant payment will not be made before September 2023, even if the apprentice starts before this date.

Subject	Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding
Chemistry	£18,000
Computing	£18,000
Mathematics	£18,000
Physics	£18,000
Geography	£16,000
Languages (including ancient languages)	£16,000
Biology	£11,000
Design and technology (including engineering and food technology)	£11,000
English	£6,000

Grant funding agreements (GFAs)

All lead schools with permission to recruit to funded apprenticeship courses must enter into a GFA with us. Grant funding will only be paid once a GFA is in place and is due to commence in September 2023.

We will contact all relevant lead schools before the start of the academic year to request the appropriate documentation.

If a lead school did not receive grant funding in the 2022 to 2023 academic year, they will be sent a grant offer letter (GOL) which includes the terms and conditions of the 2023 to 2024 grant. They must complete all the highlighted sections in the GOL and email this document to GFA[email protected].

After the GOL has been returned, fully completed and signed by the lead school’s accounting officer, we will arrange for this to be countersigned by our responsible officer and returned to the lead school. This countersigned document forms the GFA and must be retained by the lead school.

If a GFA is delayed, grant funding payments will be made in the following month.

If a lead school already has a GFA in place from a previous academic year, we will ask them to review any variations to the original agreement. The lead school must confirm that they accept any variations in order for funding to continue.

Conditions of grant

You can only use grant funding to support the named apprentice. You cannot share funding across funded and non-funded places.

For funded places, you cannot charge trainees for the award of QTS. You will need to inform your trainees if they have to pay any additional fees.

For the period of their training, all apprentices must be employed by a school as an unqualified teacher and paid in line with their employing school’s pay policy. This includes periods of training spent in other schools.

Maintained schools and local authorities must abide by school teachers’ pay and conditions guidance, which states that an unqualified teacher must be paid salary within the minimum and maximum of the unqualified teacher pay range.

Pay rates must be clearly advertised to the apprentice beforehand.

Apprentices who are on full-time courses should be employed full-time. Apprentices are expected to be employed for a minimum of 12 months.

Apprentices ineligible for grant funding

Schools can recruit apprentices who are on courses in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding.

These apprentices must:

• be eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher
• meet the requirements identified in the ITT criteria

Apprentices will need to be registered with either:

• the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) by universities
• Register trainee teachers (Register) by school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers

Lead schools must be aware of the financial implications of recruiting apprentices who are not eligible for grant funding. We cannot be held responsible for any costs associated with recruiting or training apprentices, irrespective of the provision of funding.

Apprentices recruited by schools rated grade 1 or 2 by Ofsted that do not join or form a School Direct partnership are ineligible for grant funding. They may be able to use funding from their apprenticeship service account to fund some or all of the training costs.

Payment of grant funding

Who we pay

The grant will be paid directly to the lead school if you are:

• an academy
• a MAT
• a free school

If a lead school is a local-authority-maintained school, the grant will be paid to the relevant local authority. Lead schools in this category will need to make sure that suitable agreements are in place with their local authority so that funding is transferred appropriately.

Lead schools should identify funding arrangements and mechanisms to recover unused funds in written agreements with their partner schools and ITT providers.

When the payments will be made

Payments will be made in 11 monthly instalments from September to July, as set out in Annex C: funding cycle.

Payments will be made on the third working day of each month and are subject to:

• us receiving your grant funding documentation
• apprentice numbers being established from available data

The first payment of the 2023 to 2024 academic year will be made in September 2023. If you receive your first payment after September 2023, it will be adjusted to include payments backdated to September.

The final payment will be made in July 2024.

How much the payments will be

The payments from September to November 2023 will be calculated using trainee recruitment data available at that time. This funding may be at a preliminary rate.

Following receipt of verified trainee data from the ITT provider in the October ITT census, we will adjust the monthly payment amounts from December 2023 onwards. We will issue any arrears that may be due or recover funding as appropriate within this adjustment.

It is important that ITT providers have all the relevant information about trainees to complete the October ITT census. We strongly encourage all lead schools to engage with their partner ITT provider to avoid any delay or suspension of payment.

We will not provide any additional funding for the administration of School Direct (salaried) courses.

Data requirements and reporting

Schools and ITT providers are required to share all data on apprenticeships with us.

This includes data on:

• applications
• recruitment
• employment outcomes

Apprenticeship grant funding is calculated based on data submitted by ITT providers through HESA and Register.

It is important that the data is:

• accurate
• complete
• submitted on time

Failure to meet these conditions is likely to result in the suspension of funding. ITT providers and employers offering apprenticeship training are also required to provide data to the apprenticeships service.

Data requirements from schools

Once a candidate has been recruited, lead schools are required to provide their ITT partner with accurate placement and employing school data. Lead schools must inform providers promptly of any changes such as:

• withdrawals
• deferrals

Lead schools are also required to provide trainee data to us as part of their Annex G assurance return. Further details about the assurance process can be found in the Assurance and audit section.

Data requirements from ITT providers

Failure to comply with requests for data in an accurate or timely manner may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation for the ITT provider. Full details of the process are included in the Register guidance page for accredited providers.

Withdrawals and deferrals

Withdrawals

If a trainee withdraws, ITT providers must update the trainee’s record in Register to show they have withdrawn. Higher education institutions (HEIs) should update their trainee records in HESA during the HESA data collection period.

Reconciliation will be determined on a pro rata basis. We will consider the trainee’s actual withdrawal date in relation to the intended completion date.

Lead schools can keep 1/11th of the relevant funding for each month or part-month the trainee remained in training.

Funding will either:

• cease in-year from the following month, if the ITT provider has updated the trainee data in Register
• be recovered as part of a funding reconciliation exercise following the end of the academic year

We will not reimburse lead schools for any expenditure made after the trainee has withdrawn.

If a trainee leaves without completing their ITT, the last date of training is the final day and date for which the ITT provider has evidence that they were still in training or attendance for any learning that is part of their ITT.

We may request supporting evidence to corroborate the withdrawal date, and all appropriate records should be retained by the ITT provider or lead school.

Deferrals

Schools, in agreement with the ITT provider are responsible for making the decision to allow an apprentice to defer. Lead schools must communicate this decision to their ITT provider, who is responsible for reporting this to us through Register.

Apprentices can only defer once they have started their ITT course. The grant will only be paid up to the maximum grant rate relevant to the academic year in which the apprentice starts, regardless of the year in which they return.

If a trainee defers, ITT providers must update the trainee’s record in Register to show they have deferred. HEIs should update their trainee records in HESA during the HESA data collection period.

Typically, a trainee will only defer to the following academic year. In this scenario, lead schools must retain remaining funds for use on the trainee’s return. If the trainee does not return to the course in the following academic year, funds relating to the remaining months during which the trainee was not training will be recovered in full. In this event, the deferral date or date of last attendance would become the date of withdrawal.

Where a deferral is expected to be beyond one academic year, you must notify us as soon as possible in order for us to recover the remaining funding. If a trainee subsequently returns from a period of deferral longer than one academic year, email the ITT funding team at ITT[email protected] to discuss the arrangements for receiving the remaining funding.

If the apprentice returns to the course and subsequently withdraws, funding will be recovered on the basis of the total time that the apprentice was on the course.

For apprentices undertaking flexible funded apprenticeship courses, we will take into consideration the deferral date and course length when calculating any funding adjustments or recoveries.

Assurance and audit

Grant funding identified as recoverable as a result of this exercise will be recouped.

In most cases, where recovery is required, it will be carried out by offsetting funding that will be paid to the lead schools in subsequent years. If this is not possible, we will invoice the lead school for the outstanding amount.

Grant funding may be recovered as a result of:

• apprentices not starting
• apprentices leaving before obtaining QTS, including apprentices who accept a place and subsequently withdraw
• errors identified in apprentice data submitted by schools and ITT providers upon which the grant funding is calculated, resulting in an overpayment
• any miscalculation of grant funding which results in an overpayment to the lead school
• any grant payment made to an incorrect recipient
• any grant payment made in error

Grant funding may also be recovered as a result of non-compliance with the GFA, including, but not limited to, failure to submit an Annex G in accordance with the requirements of the grant funding letter or any subsequent communication from us

Where a recovery of grant funding is required, we may do this in the same or subsequent academic years.

Lead schools and associated ITT providers must hold full records of all apprentices in receipt of grant funding, including evidence of the apprentices’ academic qualifications achieved prior to starting their training.

Apprentices must be in receipt of the degree on which their assessment was based prior to starting the course. We reserve the right to request this evidence at any point during the academic year from lead schools and ITT providers, for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance.

ITT providers should make sure that all apprentice records in Register are complete. This includes amending the records of apprentices who:

• withdraw or defer from their ITT programme
• start later in the academic year
• return from earlier academic years

We reserve the right to:

• delay or withhold payments to the lead school if data is inaccurate or incomplete
• request this evidence from ITT providers and lead schools

Lead schools are required to submit an appropriate assurance return to us by 31 December 2024.

Lead schools in receipt of grant funding of:

• £40,000 and above will be sent an Annex G(i) which requires an independent external auditor and accounting officer approval
• less than £40,000 will be sent an Annex G(ii) and will need to be self-certified by the accounting officer of the lead school and the chair of governors, the chair of the local governing body or the chair of the board of trustees

As part of the grant assurance process, lead schools are required to submit an audited breakdown of grant expenditure and corresponding apprentice details. Where these apprentice details differ from those submitted through Register by the provider, we reserve the right to request further information or evidence from the lead school to confirm these details before we make any additional recovery or reimbursement payments.

Further guidance on this will be sent out to you following the end of the academic year.

Failure to submit accurately completed and signed-off assurance and audit documentation on time is likely to result in:

• future ITT grants being withheld
• the recovery of funding paid

Further assurance will be sought in the following academic year for apprentices who:

• deferred their apprenticeship into the following academic year
• extended their apprenticeship into the following academic year

Lead schools need to retain all appropriate records for the next audit – for example, the date on which the apprentice resumed their apprenticeship and their current status.

Failure to fully comply with the data reporting and assurance requirements set out in this manual may result in:

• the withdrawal of funding to a lead school
• non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation

Annex A: types of organisation involved in postgraduate teaching apprenticeships and ITT partnerships

Lead school

The lead school:

• is the agreed point of contact for the School Direct partnership
• holds the partnership’s apprenticeship and School Direct training places
• is responsible for the partnership activity
• can employ apprentices and receive grant funding for them
• must agree the location of apprentices with the ITT provider
• is responsible for the grant funding and its distribution
• is responsible for placing apprentices across the partnership

They will be responsible for communications:

• across the partnership to and from us
• between each partner school

The lead school must be one of the following:

• a maintained school – primary or secondary
• a special school
• a sixth-form college
• a PRU
• a city technology college
• an academy
• a MAT
• a free school

An independent school cannot act as a lead school in the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Partner school

The partner school is any school within the partnership of schools involved in ITT. Partner schools that are independent schools may contribute to training.

Employing school

The employing school is defined as the school that employs the apprentice during their ITT year.

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive funding from the lead school.

Accredited ITT provider

The ITT provider is accredited by us.

An ITT provider can be:

• an HEI
• a SCITT provider

The ITT provider is a full member of the School Direct partnership.

As an accredited provider of ITT, they:

• have the experience of delivering teacher training
• are accountable, alongside the lead school partnership, for marketing, selection, assessment and standards monitoring for trainees

Only accredited ITT providers that have successfully registered on the RoATP can deliver off-the-job apprenticeship training.

The ITT provider will recommend apprentices for the award of QTS. A separate ITT provider that has not delivered the apprentices’ training and is on the register of EPAOs is required to carry out an end-point assessment in the apprentice’s fourth term.

Annex B: further information and contacts

Additional supporting information

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship guidance

Apprenticeship technical funding guide

School Direct: guidance for schools

Apply for teacher training

Teachers’ standards

School Direct (salaried): funding manual

Initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual

Initial teacher training (ITT): criteria and supporting advice

Register of end-point assessment organisations

Contacts

For funding and payment queries from schools and ITT providers, email ITT[email protected].

For queries about permission to recruit, Register, the October census or any other data matters, email [email protected].

For GFA queries, email GFA[email protected].

For ITT criteria, email ITT[email protected].

For all other enquiries, contact the Department for Education.

Annex C: funding cycle

These are the key events in the funding cycle.

June to July 2023

Lead schools that did not receive grant funding in the 2022 to 2023 academic year will be contacted in order to submit GFAs to us. If other documents, such as letters of variation, are required, we will contact individual lead schools separately.

August 2023

Apply acceptance data is incorporated into the funding model. This allows us to make interim payments to you from September to November 2022, if you have a GFA in place. Payment profiles are available in Register during this period.

November 2023

Your ITT provider’s data in Register is incorporated into the funding model to confirm payments from December 2023. This is based on the trainee registration returns submitted through either HESA or Register on or before the census closure date.

December 2023 to January 2024

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your data in Register.

Register is available for you to see grant summaries and payment profiles.

February to April 2024

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in February 2024 to include any changes that ITT providers have submitted through either HESA or Register since the census was published.

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data.

Register is available for you to see grant summaries and payment profiles.

May to July 2024

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in May 2024 to include any changes that ITT providers have submitted through either HESA or Register.

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data. Any subsequent changes to your Register data will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Register is available for you to see grant summaries and payment profiles.

Annex D: assurance and audit process

These are the key events in the funding cycle.

September to December 2024

We will send final assurance documents to you at the end of the academic year. We will pre-populate these with the amount of funding you have received and the details of the trainees the funding applies to.

The completed document and auditor report (if applicable) will help you to provide us with the necessary assurance for both the amount received and the purpose for which it was used. Further guidance on this process will be sent to you at the same time.

These should be returned by 31 December 2024.

January to March 2025

In addition to the final assurance document and auditor report (if applicable), we also apply a sampling process to gain assurance of the grant expenditure. This involves assurance checks through the collection of evidence on sampled trainees, including withdrawals, course information and payment information.

Recoveries and reimbursements will be completed through the payment profile, invoice or credit memo.