Teacher apprenticeships to shorten to nine months

To encourage more people to take up the profession, the government has announced it will slash postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA) courses from twelve months to nine, aligning them with the school year.

Courses currently run from September to September, meaning trainees often wait months before being able to start their careers in teaching, as well as making it challenging for school to support apprentices while training.

The change, to be made in August this year, is part of the government’s wider mission to recruit 6,500 teachers.

The PGTA has seen a 58 per cent growth over the past few years, with more than 1,400 people gaining places and 2,800 eligible applicants unable to secure a coveted place.

Schools minister Catherine McKinnell said: “Recruiting and keeping high-quality teachers in our classrooms is the single biggest driver of high standards in schools, which is why our Plan for Change has a clear commitment to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers by the end of this Parliament.

“Our schools are crying out for more expert teachers, and this government will continue to pull every lever it can to plug the gaps and build on the green shoots we are already seeing.

“Bringing teaching apprenticeships in line with the school year is not only logical, it will open the doors for more and more people to become brilliant teachers, shaping the lives of the next generation.”