The PGTA offers a route to Qualified Teacher Status while being employed as an unqualified teacher.
To be eligible for the PGTA you must:
Have a school prepared to support you through the apprenticeship who will employ you as an unqualified teacher;
Already hold an undergraduate degree at 2:2 or above;
Have GCSEs in English, Maths and Science at minimum grade C/4 or equivalent.
Employment as
Your school must employ you as an unqualified teacher on point 1 of the unqualified teacher scale, as a minimum at the start of your apprenticeship;
Contracts will need to start on the 12th July and run until the October half-term after you have gained QTS;
As the employer, the school will undertake all safeguarding checks (including an enhanced DBS) which will be verified with Lincolnshire ITT.
Cost
No cost to the apprentice, fees are paid through the school which may have access to the apprenticeship levy;
Secondary schools may be able to access funding towards salaries. To find out more, go to the DfE website.
Teaching commitment
We recommend no more than 15 hours teaching in primary/15 lessons in secondary in the Autumn Term of the apprenticeship;
As the year progresses, the teaching timetable will be increased to up to 80% by the final half-term.
Second school placement
All Postgraduate Teacher Apprentices must undertake a second school placement. This is typically 6 weeks. If the apprentice is in a specialist setting and has no prior experience of mainstream schools, their second school placement will be between 6–8 weeks;
As an employer, the school will continue to pay the apprentice while they are at their second school, as they are an employed member of staff.
Mentoring
Apprentices will have the support of a suitably trained and experienced mentor working closely with them in both placements, they are entitled to 1.5 hours per week for observations, meetings and feedback;
Apprentices should share PPA time with their mentor as part of their support package from the school.
Training
Schools will release apprentices to access the full calendared QTS training, this is published before the summer holidays;
The general expectation is that this is one day a week, but there will be occasions when it is more.
Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP)
All ITT providers must ensure that there are four weeks of Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) for trainees, in addition to the usual training programme;
Apprentices must fully participate in the ITAP weeks within the course and will be supported by their school with the time and space to complete this.
Support
Your mentor will be a key person in your training and development across the year;
The apprentice will have time and space to observe teaching, reflect and develop their own practice;
Postgraduate Teacher Apprentices will be visited by a member of the team every whole term as a minimum, as part of their assessment;
They will have a point of contact at Lincolnshire ITT who will support and guide them through their training year.
Off the job learning
Apprentices are required to complete off-the-job training for 20% of their working week. All this training will be provided by Priory Apprenticeships and Lincolnshire ITT.
Assessment
You will be assessed for QTS alongside all our Initial Teacher Trainees;
There are no examinations, it is all ongoing assessment against key milestones throughout the year;
You will go through an End Point Assessment in the Autumn Term after you gain QTS.
All ITT programmes must be 36 weeks long (180 days) as a minimum, with 24 weeks (120 days) in school.
