Applying for a place on a teacher training programme: What are they looking for?
November 2024
Written by Rebecca Tickell, Managing Director of Little Red Hen International and DPhil student at the University of Oxford
I’m guessing that you’re likely reading this post because you’re interested in applying for a place on a teacher training programme. If you are, I’ll kick-start your thinking with a few self-reflective questions that you should be able to answer. If you’re not and you’re reading this from a provider’s perspective e.g. you could be looking for how to attract and select the best applicants, please jump to the section ‘building your confidence’ for some useful links.
- Why do you want to be a teacher?
- What do you hope to get out of teaching?
- What can you give – do you have any personal attributes, skills, qualities or experience that would make you a successful teacher?
With regard to the last question, just what are the people who will be sifting through the applications looking for? A good place to start in order to answer this question could be to look at some of the available information available on providers websites. For example, if you’re thinking of applying for a place on a PGCE programme at the University of York for example, there’s a wealth of information available about this on their webpage. However, this is only useful if you know what course you want to apply for and know where you want to train.
If you’re a bit uncertain about what course you want to do, then do take some time to research your options. The government website ‘Get into teaching’ is really useful e.g. see 9 tips to help you apply for teacher training to start the ball rolling. Once you’ve decided what course you’d like to do then you need to find a provider, which you can search for using the official government website.
It can be confusing
There are many routes into teaching, which can be daunting for those wanting to apply for a place on a training programme. The first step is to decide on the type of course you want to do e.g. is it an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate qualification? Also, please remember to check that the course you want confers qualified teacher status on successful completion. This may help you with this part of the process, although school centred initial teacher training centres (SCITTs), another type of initial teacher training (ITT) provider, haven’t been included.
A word of caution: the distinction made between school-led programmes and university led-programmes can be misleading.
- Trainees on university led programmes will spend the majority of their time – more often than not spending exactly the same amount of time as those on school-led programmes – training in a school setting.
- Providers of school-led programmes – more often than not – work closely with universities to provide access to postgraduate qualifications such as the PGCE.
- Make sure you know what sort of support and quality of training you’ll be receiving from the providers you pick. Don’t be afraid to email them to ask for clarification if you’re unsure.
Building your confidence
Once you have successfully completed your teacher training programme, you will begin a 2-year induction period where you’ll be known as an Early Career Teacher. You will be provided with support via a mentor and a structured development programme to help you to develop. More information about this can be found here.
Scenario-based learning is also a tool used to good effect when it comes to building confidence and developing teaching competencies. At TSP we’ve conducted research with more than 100,000 beginning teachers, developing tools such as T-Screen and T-Insight, to help teachers and system leaders actualise effective professional development and personal growth. You can read more about our research here.
Some useful links
You’ll need to hunt out those certificates if you want to apply for teacher training. For secondary programmes you’ll need a grade C/4 or higher in maths and English and for primary you’ll also need a grade C/4 or higher in science. If you’re applying for a postgraduate course e.g. PGCE you’ll also need evidence of your degree. If you need to request replacements for whatever reason, the government website offers some helpful advice as to how you might go about doing this.
Apply for a place using the official government website here.
Find out more about funding and support here. You may be eligible for a bursary or scholarship. Some providers also offer fully-funded places and a salary to train e.g. TeachFirst.
Non-UK teachers if you’re thinking about either teaching abroad or coming from another country to teach in the UK, this link provides plenty of useful information.
Thinking about teaching abroad? The TES has provided some useful information about this here.
Before you can teach in a Scottish state school, you must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). The GTCS is responsible for ensuring that each teacher’s qualifications meet the required standard. Visit their website here.
Just like England, before you can teach in the majority of state schools in Wales you need to complete a training programme that confers qualified teacher status. If you’ve trained outside of Wales, then click on this link to find out more about how to register as a teacher with the Education Workforce Council.
If you want to teach in a grant–aided (publically) funded school in Northern Ireland you must be registered with GTCNI – this provides both professional recognition and your licence to practise.
Good luck with your application!
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