Support for newly qualified teachers who had their training disrupted

New teachers in Wales who saw their training disrupted by the pandemic will receive a term of employment to help them into their new roles.

With schooling disrupted by the pandemic many trainee teachers across Wales missed the opportunity to gain experience with in-classroom training. As schools switched to providing services digitally, teachers in training delivered lessons online.

The Welsh Government has allocated an extra £1.7m in funding to ensure newly-qualified teachers (NQTs) have a term of employment to support their transition into teaching.

The funding will support NQTs throughout the autumn term, providing them with the training, experience and confidence they need.

As well as giving NQTs more opportunity for training and mentoring, the support will also allow schools to increase capacity and free up other teachers to provide extra help to vulnerable learners.

The extra funding brings total Welsh Government support for NQTs during the financial year to £7.7m, as part of a £39.1m package of wider funding backing the Welsh Government’s Renew and Reform plans for education. This also includes continued support for its Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards programme, and supporting learners in exam years to move to the next phase of their education.

The new support is open to NQTs who have not already found full-time employment with a school, and more than 400 have been placed in schools across Wales.