20 October 2005
Issued by the Training and Development Agency for Schools

Bradford College, Leeds University and Sheffield Hallam to host pre-teacher training courses
Bradford College, Leeds University and Sheffield Hallam have been chosen by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) as three of the selected universities and colleges in the country to offer graduates pre-teacher training courses.

The Universities and College are to run a pre-teacher training course in physics which has been designed to enable graduates to enhance their subject knowledge before starting their secondary initial teacher training courses.

The physics enhancement course runs for six months and will allow graduates with either an A-level in the subject, an element of the subject in their degree, or occupational experience, to build on and deepen their knowledge.

Graham Holley, Executive Director of the TDA, said: “We are trying to get closer to schools’ needs and boost young people’s achievement. Essentially we need more physics teachers in secondary schools. There are many graduates who would make excellent physics teachers but who don’t have the right breadth of knowledge to be able to teach the subject. The new course at the Universities and College has been designed to help more people get that knowledge so they can begin initial teacher training."

There are no fees for the courses and a bursary of £150 per week is available for the duration. To be eligible, candidates must have secured a place on an accredited secondary initial teacher training programme.

The pre-training courses in all subjects will be rolled-out nationally to over 700 graduates, and are timely as teaching has recently been identified as the number one choice of career for final year students* and also the first choice of profession among career changers**.

Once a pre-training course has been completed, eligible trainees on postgraduate courses are entitled to a training bursary worth £6,000 - £9,000. Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) with a PGCE in mathematics, sciences or languages may also be eligible for a taxable ‘Golden Hello’ payment worth £2,500 - £5,000 after successfully completing their induction period.

To find out more, visit www.teach.gov.uk/enhancement

Media enquiries
Mel Garfield / Andi Neophytou / Michael Sheen at Band & Brown Communications.
Tel: 020 7419 7312 / 6949 / 8616; e-mail: mel@bbpr.com / andi@bbpr.com / michael.sheen@bbpr.com

General TDA enquiries
0870 496 0123

Training and Development Agency for Schools

*The UK Graduate Careers Survey, High Fliers Research Ltd and conducted among 16,113 final year students at 30 universities in the UK and Ireland, showed teaching, media and marketing as the top three career destinations of choice.

** Top Choice for Career Changers conducted among 1,778 working graduates, showed teaching as the top choice for career changers.

For more information about how to become a teacher, see www.teach.gov.uk. Personal advice is available from the Teaching Information Line on 0845 6000 991 – 992 for Welsh speakers (minicom 01245 45 43 43).

Applications for most postgraduate Initial Teacher Training courses are processed through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry and can be submitted online at www.gttr.ac.uk. Applications for undergraduate teacher training courses can be made via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (www.ucas.ac.uk).

A Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) can expect to start on a salary of at least £19,161 (£23,001 in inner London) in September 2005. The pay scale for good, experienced classroom teachers who have 'crossed the threshold' rises to at least £30,339 outside London and £35,985 in inner London in September. Additional allowances may be paid to teachers considered to be excellent, and to those who take on management and other responsibilities. The pay scale for head teachers can rise to over £90,000 depending on size of school.

Eligible trainees on postgraduate initial teacher training courses in England are entitled to a tax-free training bursary worth £6-9,000.

Details are available at www.tda.gov.uk/recruit/thetrainingprocess/coursefunding