All entrants to teacher training must satisfy certain criteria, such as subject knowledge and suitability for the profession. In addition there are certain qualifications that applicants for teacher training must have:

English & Maths GCSE Grade C or above, or a recognised equivalent qualification;
Science GCSE Grade C or above, or a recognised equivalent qualification. This applies to Primary Teacher Training only.

All teachers need to have obtained a degree or equivalent. Depending on the route you choose, you can either take a course which will give you a degree as part of your training or, for those who already hold a degree relevant to the subject they wish to teach, complete a shorter post-graduate course to gain QTS. If you do NOT have a degree and can not do a full-time college-based course, there are increasing opportunities for you to study a degree part-time.

The traditional routes into teaching are:

A three or four year full-time course which gives you a degree BA or BSc with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). These courses are for both Primary and Secondary teachers depending on the provider. This route is currently funded in the same way as any other degree course and is suitable if you don’t already possess a degree or equivalent.
A one year PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) course, carrying with it QTS. You must have a degree, normally in a subject area taught in schools. This is a full-time route and the majority of the year is spent in schools on teaching practice. You can train as a Primary or Secondary teacher on this route.

These routes are typically provided by universities, colleges and other higher education institutions. A list of all institutions providing Initial Teacher Training is available from www.tda.gov.uk/Recruit/thetrainingprocess/typesofcourse.aspx.

If these routes are not suitable for you there are now other routes available:

Employment Based Initial Teacher Training (EBITT) routes. These routes are the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) and the Registered Teacher Programme (RTP), which are generally offered on a full-time basis, although providers may consider requests to take the programme on a part-time basis. A full time GTP course is typically 1 year in duration, with the RTP taking 2 years to complete. You are employed by a school as an Unqualified Teacher during your training. To apply for a place on one of these routes you will need to apply to a Designated Recommending Body (DRB). For further details, including details of EBITT providers (DRBs) please visit www.tda.gov.uk/teach.
School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) is a postgraduate programme based in and rum by schools. All SCITT courses lead to QTS and many, thought not all, award the Post Graduate Certificate in Education. Schools and colleges of all kinds can be involved so if you would like to training in a primary, secondary or middle school you may be able to find a school to training in. For information on the Leicester and Leicestershire SCITT please visit www.leics-scitt.co.uk. Information on the two SCITT centres operating in the area (Nottingham and Leicester) can be found at www.gttr.ac.uk.
Flexible PGCE with QTS route. This route is offered by a range of ITT providers. It usually involves some distance learning and you build up your teaching experience at a pace which suits your individual circumstances, so you can keep your current job whist you are training. However, you will need to be flexible enough to do block teaching practices at some stage of your training. For information about providers please visit www.gttr.ac.uk.

You may also find the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) Website www.tda.gov.uk a useful resource.

Page Last Updated: 4 January 2011