Routes into Teaching with FTA
School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT)
Futures Teaching is joining Teach First as a partner, offering the School Centred Initial Teacher Training programme. Our research-led training one academic year programme gives you everything you need to get your dream career started. You could train in a school local to you and be fully supported to make a difference from day one. At the end of the course, you could gain a PGCE, plus Qualified Teacher Status.
You will start your course observing key practitioners, then begin slowly building up your own teaching hours, always with an experienced teacher in the room. Hours are increased/decreased as and when needed, at a pace right for you, always with proactive and multi layered support from within the school. Also included in your timetable will be a structured weekly meeting with your subject mentor.
Your weekly training day is delivered by expert teachers from our alliance of schools. This is designed in collaboration with Teach First’s expert curriculum designers and sequenced to make sure you are focused on the areas of teaching that are most relevant to that point in the year.
The training will include a mixture of online and face to face elements, ensuring you develop the knowledge and skills you need to become an effective Early Career Teacher, alongside gaining your QTS, PGCE and 60 Master’s credits.
You will also spend time working with children of a different age, either in a nursery, primary, secondary school or post-16, depending on your specialism.
We encourage a caring and supporting ethos through strong partnerships with our alliance schools. We see our trainees as individuals and will support, challenge and nurture you to become a confident and reflective practitioner in the classroom. No two types of support are the same and this unique approach will allow you to maximise your training year ready to begin your teaching career confident and equipped to teach.
School placements
Our research-led Teach First course will give you plenty of hands-on experience. Our curriculum is focused on supporting you to put learning into practice to have an impact on pupils, during a four-day week core school placement from mid-September to July.
You will have one day a week to engage in training and development to support your teaching practice, as well as a six-week placement in a different, complementary school. All school placements are discussed with you beforehand, to ensure you are comfortable with the choice and are within sensible travel distance of your home.
During your placements you will be able to teach contemporary methods and practices across a range of ages and abilities. The programme balances your subject knowledge and expertise, alongside giving you a deeper understanding of effective teaching methods and techniques to manage your workload and wellbeing.
School Direct
School Direct seeks to recruit locally and is divided into School Direct Salaried and School Direct Training. To train graduates, schools are required to partner an accredited provider, such as a university. Applicants will apply via APPLY and know which school they will be training at from the beginning. Trainees will learn on the job and will be a member of the teaching team from the outset.
If applicants wish to be considered for the School Direct Salaried route, they will need to already have substantial school experience.
Trainees will be mentored by experienced staff, observing and gradually take on teaching responsibilities. There is also a strong possibility that trainees will be offered a job at their school afterwards, or within Futures Teaching Alliance.
Details for both SCITT and School Direct Places
Length: One academic Year
Entry requirements: Undergraduate degree, grade 4/ C or above in GCSE English and maths (primary applicants will also require a grade 4/C or above in Science).
If an applicant's degree does not link closely to your chosen teaching subject, they may be required to take a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course. If this is the case the provider may require you to have an A-Level in that particular subject at Grade B or higher.
Funding: Provider fees of up to £9,250. Student loans and maintenance grants are available to home students; loans apply also to EU students. Training bursaries and scholarships worth up to £26,000 are available to top graduates, depending on their subject area.
Please visit the education.gov.uk/funding page to find out more details.
