Guidance

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding manual: 2024 to 2025 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. Payments are made to ITT providers in 11 instalments, based on the trainee data submitted.

As the apprenticeship levy is restricted to training and assessment, providers may prefer to use the grant funding for salary costs. You are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding, designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school to be used for its intended purpose.

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 employing 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 apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR) 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

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 APAR 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 APAR.

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 ITT provider

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive grant funding from the ITT provider. 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

ITT providers should ensure that partner schools have the capacity to undertake their responsibilities.

Schools in special measures can recruit apprentices, and continue employing existing apprentices, as long as employment at the school does not negatively affect the apprentice or the quality of their training. The accredited ITT provider is responsible for maintaining the quality of its apprenticeship programme.

The ITT provider must be willing to offer any necessary support to the apprentice and partner school during the training period. If the ITT provider cannot offer the necessary support, an alternative school within the partnership must employ the apprentice. Schools and providers should email [email protected] to arrange the transfer.

Offering places

ITT providers must decide with an employing school whether they want to offer an apprenticeship place.

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 subcontracting arrangements with other providers that did not participate in the procurement exercise.

Apprentice eligibility criteria

The ITT provider 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 introduced a new approach to awarding QTS to overseas teachers in February 2023 to allow teachers who qualified in a select number of countries to apply for QTS if their qualifications, skills and experience meet the robust, new criteria.

You should advise applicants to apply to us where potential eligibility is clearly 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 funding.

Potential trainees who may already be eligible to receive QTS under the conditions described above should email [email protected].

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.

Qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS)

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

• hold 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 EYTS may:

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

Permission to recruit

ITT providers interested in delivering the apprenticeship must have permission from us to recruit if they wish to access any associated grant funding. They must be registered on the APAR before doing this.

Changing ITT provider or training route

Ordinarily, we will not permit an ITT provider to change its lead partners once it has registered a course. After a partnership agreement is drawn up and places have been advertised to applicants, the ITT provider should make all reasonable efforts to deliver the course as described.

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

Grant funding rates

Grant funding will be paid to ITT providers for each trainee depending on the subject of their ITT course.

The grant funding amounts set out below apply to any postgraduate teaching apprenticeship that starts in the 2024 to 2025 academic year. Apprenticeships may start earlier, from 1 June 2024, but the first grant payment will not be made before September 2024, even if the apprentice starts before this date.

For the 2024 to 2025 academic year, grant funding for chemistry, computing, mathematics, physics, French, German and Spanish is the same value as the bursary available. In other subjects, the grant will continue to be £9,000 lower than the bursary.

Employers can access up to £9,000 for training and assessment costs in all subjects.

Subject	Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding
Chemistry	£28,000
Computing	£28,000
Mathematics	£28,000
Physics	£28,000
French, German, or Spanish (no other languages)	£25,000
Other languages (including ancient languages)	£16,000
Biology	£16,000
Design and technology (including engineering and food technology)	£16,000
Geography	£16,000
Art and design	£1,000
English	£1,000
Music	£1,000
RE	£1,000

Grant funding agreements (GFAs)

All ITT providers 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 start in September 2024.

We will contact all relevant ITT providers before the start of the academic year to request the appropriate documentation. They will be sent a grant offer letter (GOL) which includes the terms and conditions of the 2024 to 2025 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 ITT provider’s accounting officer, we will arrange for this to be countersigned by our responsible officer and returned to the provider. This countersigned document forms the GFA and must be retained by the provider.

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

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 follow the school teachers’ pay and conditions guidance, which states that an unqualified teacher must be paid a 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 and 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, they must still:

• 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 service (Register) by school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers

ITT providers and employing 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.

Payment of grant funding

Who we pay

The grant will be paid directly to the ITT provider. ITT providers should identify funding arrangements and mechanisms to recover unused funds in written agreements with their partners.

Flexible courses

ITT providers delivering part-time courses will receive the same grant funding for each trainee as an equivalent full-time trainee. This will be paid over the course of the same monthly instalment schedule as any other postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA) trainee.

It is the responsibility of the ITT provider to decide:

• the payment profile for the trainee’s salary
• how the grant will be managed as a contribution towards this

Any funding that is owed to us will be calculated in accordance with the criteria set out in the Assurance and audit section.

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 or around the third working day of each month and are subject to:

• completion of grant funding documentation
• apprentice numbers being established from available data

The first payment of the 2024 to 2025 academic year will be made in September 2024. If you receive your first payment after September 2024, it will be adjusted to include payments backdated to September.

The final payment will be made in July 2025.

How much the payments will be

The payments from September to November 2024 will be calculated using trainee recruitment data available at that time.

Following receipt of verified trainee data from the ITT provider in the October ITT census, we will adjust the monthly payment amounts from December 2024 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 ITT providers to engage with their partners to avoid any delay or suspension of payment.

We will not provide any additional funding for the administration of PGTA courses.

Data requirements and reporting

Employing 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 employing schools

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

• withdrawals
• deferrals

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.

ITT providers 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.

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.

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh 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 ITT providers 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 date for which you have 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.

Deferrals

ITT providers, in agreement with the employing school, are responsible for making the decision to allow an apprentice to defer. The ITT provider 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.

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the relevant funding for each month or part-month the trainee remained in training before deferring. The remaining funding will be recovered as part of a funding reconciliation exercise following the end of the academic year. On the trainee’s return to the course, you must contact the ITT funding team with the relevant trainee and funding details to receive the outstanding funding amount.

If the apprentice returns to the course and subsequently withdraws, funding will be calculated 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 ITT provider in subsequent years. If this is not possible, we will invoice the ITT provider 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 ITT provider
• 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.

Employing 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  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 ITT provider if data is inaccurate or incomplete
• request this evidence from ITT providers for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance

ITT providers are required to submit an Annex G return to us by 31 December 2025.

As part of the grant assurance process, ITT providers are required to submit an audited breakdown of grant expenditure and corresponding apprentice details. Where these apprentice details differ from those submitted through Register, we reserve the right to request further information or evidence 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

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

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

ITT provider

The ITT provider is accredited by the Department for Education (DfE), and can be:

• an HEI
• a SCITT provider

An accredited ITT provider:

• has the experience of delivering teacher training
• is accountable for marketing, the selecting and assessing of trainees and the monitoring of standards

Only accredited ITT providers that have successfully registered on the APAR 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 APAR is required to carry out an EPA in the apprentice’s fourth term.

Lead partner

Lead partners will work within the ITT partnership and have a partnership agreement with the accredited ITT provider. Lead partners may be:

• HEIs
• schools
• trusts
• other types of organisations (including Teaching School Hubs)

They will have the capacity and expertise to take on significant operational or strategic roles in the ITT partnership and will work in collaboration with their accredited ITT provider.

Their responsibilities should be agreed and delegated through formal arrangements with the accredited ITT provider.

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 ITT provider.

Annex B: further information and contacts

Additional supporting information

Apply for teacher training

Apprenticeship provider and assessment register        

Apprenticeship technical funding guide

ITT bursary: funding manual

ITT: criteria and supporting advice

PGTA guidance

School Direct (salaried): funding manual

Teachers’ standards

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 DfE.

Annex C: funding cycle

These are the key events in the funding cycle.

June to July 2024

ITT providers will be contacted in order to submit GFAs to us.

August 2024

Apply acceptance data is incorporated into the funding model. This allows us to make interim payments to you from September to November 2024, if you have a GFA in place. Payment profiles are available in Register during this period.

November 2024

ITT provider’s data in Register is incorporated into the funding model to confirm payments from December 2024. This is based on the trainee registration returns submitted through either HESA or Register on or before the census closure date.

December 2024 to January 2025

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 2025

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in February 2025 to include any changes 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 2025

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in May 2025 to include any changes 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 assurance and audit process.

September to December 2025

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 2025.

January to March 2026

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 or invoice.