Post Graduate Teacher Apprenticeship, Level 6

The PGTA offers a route to Qualified Teacher Status while being employed as an unqualified teacher.

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 and Maths at minimum grade C/4 or equivalent. If you are a primary teacher apprentice, you must also have GCSE Science at a minimum grade C/4 or equivalent.

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;
If you are in a special school you must be teaching a semi formal curriculum for the training year;
Contracts will need to start on the 1st September and run for the full academic year;
As the employer, the school will undertake all safeguarding checks (including an enhanced DBS) which will be verified with Lincolnshire SCITT;
Apprentices should only provide cover in the event that they are absent from their scheduled teaching allocation, this is so that PPA time is used specifically for their teaching commitments.

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 salary, this applied where particular subjects attract a bursary. To find out more, go to the DfE website.

PGTAs will teach no more 0.6FTE (equivalent of 3 days), split across the week, in the Autumn Term of the apprenticeship;
As the year progresses, the teaching timetable will be increased up to 0.8FT (equivalent of 4 days), split across the week, by the final half-term.

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.

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 have their PPA time with their mentor, or other appropriate QTS colleague, as part of their support package from the school;
Schools will make provision for mentors to support their apprentices in getting their entitlement in line with the programme and ITT curriculum.

Schools will release apprentices to access the full calendared QTS training, this is published before the summer holidays;
The training averages one day a week across the academic year but the Autumn Term will have
1.5/2 days in a significant number of weeks. This is because training is frontloaded to equip trainees as quickly as possible for early success in the classroom.

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.

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 as part of their Off the Job Tasks (see below);
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.

Apprentices are required to complete off-the-job training for 20% of their working week. All these tasks are within the weekly off-site training and tasks within the Professional Development Record completed by all Initial Teacher Trainees;
Key facts about OTJ training: Off-the-job (OTJ) training: what you need to know

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;
• The Final Assessment will be against DfE Teachers’ Standards.