Welcome Welcome to the March edition of the Teacher Recruitment Bulletin from the Department for Education (DfE). Contents Supporting candidates into initial teacher training (ITT)
1) Reforms to the School Direct salaried route and postgraduate teaching apprenticeship
2) Candidates can now apply for up to 4 courses International candidates
3) International relocation payment launch
4) Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) – non-UK applicants Upcoming events
5) Summer Get Into Teaching events spaces available
6) iQTS approvals process for providers Opportunities
7) Talk to us about school placements
8) Opportunity to engage in national policy through the DfE Teacher Reference Group 1) Reforms to the School Direct salaried route and postgraduate teaching apprenticeship The DfE is considering ways to streamline salaried routes into teaching, while ensuring they remain viable for providers and attractive to trainees. As part of this, we’re evaluating how to consolidate the School Direct salaried route and postgraduate teacher apprenticeship into a single employment based route. The School Direct salaried route will still be available in the 2023 to 2024 recruitment cycle. These reforms are still under review and we’ll let you know about any changes before we make them. We’ll also hold workshops with providers to discuss the changes and their impact once the reforms are finalised. 2) Candidates can now apply for up to 4 courses Candidates applying for teacher training will now be able to apply for up to 4 courses instead of 3. We’ve made this change because of the positive impact we’ve seen from allowing candidates to apply for more courses if their applications were not successful the first time. Currently, many eligible candidates do not go on to apply again if they do not receive an offer the first time they apply. Our data shows that giving those candidates 4 course choices will help more of them to receive an offer the first time. In addition, if candidates are unsuccessful the first time they apply, they’ll now be able to apply again to 4 course choices. There will be no change for training providers within the Manage teacher training applications (Manage) online service. You will not need to make any technical changes. We’ll monitor the impact this change has on training providers and candidates to inform future policy development. 3) International relocation payment launch International relocation payments will be available in the 23 to 24 academic year and will offer a single payment of £10,000 to non-UK citizens coming to England to teach or train to teach languages or physics in secondary schools. This is designed to be a contribution to some of the relocation costs overseas teachers and trainees incur. Trainees on fee funded courses will be paid through the existing bursary mechanism. Teachers and salaried trainees will need to apply for the payment after they have started their job or course but they can express an interest now by emailing IRP.ExpressInterest@education.gov.uk. For further information on the international relocation payment policy including guidance for training providers, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-relocation-payments For further information on bursaries and scholarships available to overseas trainees in physics and languages, go to: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/non-uk-teachers/fees-and-funding-for-non-UK-trainees If you have questions about the international relocation payment, please email: teach.inengland@education.gov.uk 4) Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) – non-UK applicants Bursary eligibility requirements for non-UK SKE applicants has changed. For ITT 2023, non-UK applicants on a tuition fee-based physics or languages teacher training course in England are eligible for a SKE bursary, regardless of whether they are entitled to support under the student finance criteria. Non-UK applicants to School Direct (SD) salaried courses in physics and languages are also eligible for SKE funding, up until the point applicants receive a SD salary. For further information on SKE eligibility criteria, subjects available and providers delivering SKE courses please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/subject-knowledge-enhancement-course-directory 5) Summer Get Into Teaching events spaces available The Get Into Teaching Summer term event programme has been confirmed and spaces are available for training providers. Please only apply for events in your region as we can only host a limited number of providers at each event and events are regionally focused. A list of events and further information on the programme is available on the attached booking form. Spaces will be allocated and providers notified week commencing Monday 24 April. Please complete the booking form by 5pm on Thursday 6 April: https://forms.gle/eJCFNbDdj7vRR1Bn9 6) iQTS approvals process for providers After successfully approving 6 providers for the iQTS pilot currently delivering iQTS in over 42 countries around the world and an additional 8 providers to start delivery this coming academic year, DfE is now ready to approve further iQTS providers to start delivery of iQTS from academic year 2024 to 25. The approvals process for the second year of wider roll-out is due to open early April. DfE is hosting online events on Wednesday 22, Monday 27 and Friday 31 of March to provide guidance on the approvals process to become an iQTS provider ahead of applications opening. We encourage all accredited English ITT providers who are interested in becoming an iQTS provider to attend. Sign up to attend a guidance event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/guidance-on-how-to-apply-to-become-an-iqts-provider-tickets-579294203557 If you have any questions regarding iQTS or the approvals process to become a provider, please email: iqts.policy@education.gov.uk 7) Talk to us about school placements We want to speak to ITT providers about current experiences of organising, overseeing, and recording information about school placements. We are specifically interested in discussing the collection and use of school placement data in your organisation. Your feedback will inform potential improvements around the collection and use of school placement data across the sector, to support the development of placement partnerships. We would be very grateful if you, or a member of your organisation, could spare an hour to speak with us. Please email Edd Dixon to express your interest: edd.dixon@digital.education.gov.uk. 8) Opportunity to engage in national policy through the DfE Teacher Reference Group The DfE is looking for teachers to join its national Teacher Reference Group. This is a unique opportunity to work closely with like-minded teachers and the DfE to support policy development and implementation, by contributing views, offering valuable challenge and advice, and providing feedback directly to Ministers and officials. To find out more and apply, visit the information page: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/teacher-reference-group Early applications are welcome Applications close at 17:00 on Friday 14 of April Questions to be sent to Recruitment.TRG@education.gov.uk | 