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Education secretary Michael Gove has announced an extra £10million for Teaching Schools so they can lead the way in training the next generation of teachers 25/03/2013

The funding will further the government's ambition to drive up the number of high-quality teachers entering the profession. It will also help ensure there is a wider spread of School Direct schools across England - particularly in the North and North West.

At a conference of 700 outstanding headteachers, Gove outlined his vision for a school-led system. He said the funding would enable Teaching Schools to:

• take on greater responsibility for school improvement;
• empower the best schools to lead the system;
• ensure the most talented school leaders are spotted and supported to become successful headteachers.

The first Teaching Schools were set up in 2011. There are now 363 Teaching Schools in England. All Teaching School alliances (of which there are 304) receive £60,000 in their first year of operation - and will now receive an additional grant of £33,000 for the next financial year (2013/14).

'Teaching Schools are leading the teaching profession. They are at the forefront of driving and delivering change. They are recruiting and training new entrants to the profession, identifying leadership potential and providing support for other schools. The best people to teach teachers are teachers. School-led systems put schools, school leaders and teachers firmly in the driving seat,' said Gove.

Teaching Schools are already making a strong contribution to teaching supply. The first 100 Teaching Schools delivered more than 10,000 Initial Teacher Training places last year - and well over a third of all School Direct  places will be delivered by Teaching School partnerships next year.

The extra funding will help Teaching Schools build capacity for Initial Teacher Training. This could include conducting recruitment on behalf of their partnerships, or it could be used to cover the cost of senior staff involved in setting up as a School-centred initial teacher training (SCITT)  school.