Teacher training : Funding

UK and EU students on some Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) courses in England are eligible for a government bursary of £6,000-£9,000. They are charged tuition fees. However, the fees do not have to be paid up front as student maintenance grants and loans can cover most of the amount charged.

More information on fees and funding is available from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) .

See the separate information on teaching in Scotland, teaching in Wales and teaching in Northern Ireland for details of training and funding elsewhere in the UK.

Bursaries

Non-repayable bursaries are available for trainee teachers on full and part-time primary and secondary PGCE courses, SCITT schemes and some PGCEs in further education. The amount you receive depends on your subject area.

For 2011/12, bursaries are as follows:

• Secondary priority subjects - £9,000: chemistry, engineering, maths, physics.
• Secondary other subjects - £6,000: biology, combined/general sciences, modern foreign languages.
• Post-16 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS)/PGCE courses - bursaries are available up to £5,000 for maths, skills for life - numeracy and literacy, science, engineering, technology.
• There are currently no bursaries for other subjects or age ranges.

Golden hellos

The ‘golden hello’ scheme will close to postgraduate students starting their teacher training in 2011/12 or later. Students who started their postgraduate teacher training course before 1 August 2011 can still apply.

Support for tuition fees

There is a tuition fee loan, paid directly to your university, to cover fees. There are also student loans and grants designed to help towards living costs. See Direct Gov - Student Finance for more information about loans, grants and eligibility.

The fee loan and loan for living costs will not have to be repaid until you are working and earning over £15,000 a year.

All students starting PGCE and SCITT courses will be eligible to apply for a means-tested maintenance grant.

Other support is available for certain groups of students, e.g. students with disabilities and students with dependent children. If you are in financial hardship, you can also apply to your university for help from the access to learning fund.

Part-time PGCE trainee teachers receive the same package of financial support as is available to all part-time higher education students (see Direct Gov - Student Finance  for more information).