Funding
Teaching is a hugely important job, so to make training to teach easier the government provides financial support.
Our Specialists will make sure you know about all the teacher training funding and student finance options.
Once you’ve qualified as a teacher, you then receive a substantial annual pay rise for the first six years. There will also be opportunities to take on other responsibilities around the school, increasing your impact and salary.
Best Option: Tax-free bursaries and scholarships
Tax-free bursaries and scholarships for initial teacher training courses are provided by the Department for Education in subjects where we need more teachers.
To receive a teacher training bursary or scholarship, you need a first, 2:1 or 2:2 in an undergraduate degree or a PhD or Master’s degree and be on a course that has tuition fees to pay. This is a legal requirement.
Scholarships are usually available to applicants with a 1st, 2:1, master’s or PhD, though in exceptional circumstances they may be awarded to a graduate with a 2:2 and significant relevant experience.
They are available whether you are training to teach full time or part time.
The subjects where there are a shortage of teachers include science, maths, computer science and foreign languages. The top scholarships are equivalent to a pre-tax salary of about £38,000.
This can obviously play a big part in helping you decide which subject to train in.
Subject |
Scholarship |
Bursary |
|---|---|---|
| Art & Design | None | £10,000 |
| Biology | None | £25,000 |
| Chemistry | £30,000 | £28,000 |
| Computing | £30,000 | £28,000 |
| Design and Technology | None | £25,000 |
| English | None | £10,000 |
| Geography | None | £25,000 |
| Languages | £27,000 | £25,000 |
| Ancient Languages | None | £25,000 |
| Maths | £30,000 | £28,000 |
| Music | None | £10,000 |
| Physics | £30,000 | £28,000 |
| Religious Education | None | £10,000 |
Get paid while you train: Apprenticeships and Salaried
There are initial teacher training courses where you also receive a salary. These financial benefits come with more teaching responsibilities than the bursaries route, and our Career Change Specialists can explain what this means.
Teaching Apprenticeships
For the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship training route, the DfE give grants to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.
ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school so that it can be used for its intended purpose.
For 2024 to 2025 the DfE is offering grants of:
- £28,000 for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
- £25,000 for French, German and Spanish (no other languages)
- £16,000 for other languages, biology, design and technology, and geography
- £1,000 for art and design, English, music and RE
The salary which the training provider then offers is at the discretion of the initial training provider. Our team are experts on the different options available and are available to support people in choosing which course is right for them.
Register to speak to one of our Career Change Specialists and find out more.
Salaried Training
Some teacher training providers offer a salaried teacher training route for certain subjects, particularly shortage subjects. They provide a salary of at least £19,340 and you pay no tuition fees.
Similar to apprenticeships, you have teaching responsibility from Day One and we’ll explore if this route is a good fit for you. Salaried positions are always limited, so applying early will increase your chances of getting one.
You are awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) when you finish and can choose to do an optional PGCE in some cases.
Register to speak to one of our Career Change Specialists and find out more.
Student Finance: fees and loans
Most trainees pay tuition fees as part of their teacher training and a tuition fee loan is available to cover the entire cost.
These are available for all trainees, regardless of subject choice or previous qualifications. Martin Lewis MSE provides excellent insight into student finance and how much you may have to repay - for some it may be very little.
Initial teacher training fees cost up to £9,250 and a student loan covers all of this. You do not pay anything upfront.
You start paying off this loan when you earn over £27,295 per year.
A means-tested Maintenance Loan is also available to help with your living costs. If you’re on a full-time teacher training course, you can borrow a maximum of £7,987. If you are 60 or over on the first day of your course, you can borrow a maximum of £4,014.
Talk to us about the eligibility criteria to find out how much you could borrow.
There is no age limit for Tuition Fee Loans.
You can borrow more if you are a parent or have a disability. Depending on your circumstances, you could borrow up to £12,382.
We suggest you use the student finance calculator below to find out more.
There are eligibility criteria: access to financial support will depend on your status as a home, EU/EEA or overseas student.
If you have studied overseas and have international academic qualifications, you will need to show how these compare to UK equivalents. You gain this Statement of Comparability though ENIC-NARIC.
Repaying your loan
The student loan is written off after 30 years and repayments are only made whilst you are working and earning over the threshold of £27,295.
Your repayments to the Student Loans Company depend on how much you earn, not how much you have borrowed. You will not start repaying your loan until you earn above the threshold. The student finance calculator will give you the financial details.
Understand how to get the funding you need by speaking to one of our Career Change Specialists.
Teacher Salaries
When you qualify as a teacher by gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), you can apply for salaried positions. Teacher salaries generally follow the main pay scale set by the Department for Education.
In your first year as a qualified teacher, you would start on between £30,000 and £36,745 depending on the location of your school.
Subject to satisfactory performance, this would usually reach the top of the pay scale in six years.
Main Pay Scale |
Min |
Max |
|---|---|---|
| England (excluding London) | £30,000 | £41,333 |
| London fringe | £31,350 | £42,689 |
| Outer London | £34,514 | £46,001 |
| Inner London | £36,745 | £47,666 |
Most established teachers will earn more than this maximum by progressing onto the upper pay range for teachers, or by becoming a leading practitioner.
If you’re not sure whether you’ll be teaching in inner, outer or the fringe of London, talk to our Specialists.
Additional responsibilities
Your salary would also increase if you are given a Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payment.
These are added to a teacher’s salary when they take on responsibilities beyond classroom teaching, for example becoming head of a department.
These can range from £3,017 to £14,732 and will depend on the amount of responsibility.
Explore the progression opportunities in teaching by speaking to one of our Career Change Specialists.
International Applicant Options
If you’re applying for teacher training as a non-UK citizen, you may be able to get some financial help from the UK government.
There are 3 types of financial support you can get if you’re interested in training to teach languages and physics:
- an international relocation payment worth £10,000 for languages and physics
- bursaries worth up to £27,000 for languages and physics
- scholarships worth up to £29,000 for French, German, Spanish and physics
If you are eligible, you can receive both an international relocation payment and a bursary or scholarship. Bursaries and scholarships are cash sums from the UK government that you do not have to pay back.
Depending on your immigration status, you may be able to get other kinds of financial help from the UK government.