DfE: Becoming a Teacher newsletter (June 2026)

29 June 2026

Welcome

In your newsletter this month:

1. Update on SKE provision

All subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) providers have confirmed they are closed for DfE funded SKE recruitment for the remainder of the academic year.

Given this, it is highly likely that applicants requiring SKE will be unable to secure a funded place.

We encourage ITT providers to consider alternative approaches where appropriate, including supporting applicants within ITT or discussing self-funded SKE options.

If you have any questions, please contact SKE.Inbox@education.gov.uk.

2. Call for EYTDA training providers

There is still time for training providers to sign up to deliver the new Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship (EYTDA) from January 2027.

The EYTDA is a 3 year undergraduate course which enables apprentices to achieve Early Years Teacher Status, earning while they learn and helping to improve outcomes for young children. We want to give as many apprentices as possible a chance to join the programme, so if you are a training provider who meets the eligibility criteria, please contact us through our mailbox eytda.enquiries@education.gov.uk for more information on delivering the EYTDA next year.

Check whether you are eligible to deliver the EYTDA.

3. Move applicants to interview in Manage without adding details

Providers who prefer to manage interviews through their own booking systems can now update an applicant’s status to ‘interviewing’ without entering interview details.

How to use it:

After this, selecting ‘Move to interview’ on an application updates the status without requiring details.

What applicants see:

Applicants receive an email confirming they’ve been moved to interview, but no date or time is included. You must contact them separately to arrange this.

If you have any questions or feedback, contact us at becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk.

4. Deadline for schools to claim ITT general mentor funding – 17 July 2026 

The window for schools to claim general mentor funding is live and closes on 17 July 2026. As providers, please remind your placement schools to submit claims on the service.

Placement schools can claim funding for the time their ITT mentors have spent in training this academic year (2025/26).

The majority of placement schools have now been onboarded onto the service. Up to two DfE sign-in approver accounts have been on-boarded to the service for each school, and they can add additional users.

Find out more about ITT general mentor funding or contact service support ittmentor.funding@education.gov.uk if you have any issues.

5. High Potential ITT contract now signed with Teach First

Following a competitive procurement, Teach First have been awarded the HPITT 2027 contract. The programme will contribute 1,000 postgraduate ITT trainees for up to 5 cohorts.

The programme will have a new identity – Teach Lead Change. The Department is currently agreeing co-branding approaches with Teach First ahead of recruitment launch this September.

The new programme will focus on priority subjects and will allow trainees to explore new pathways, including in AI, SEND/inclusion and community leadership.  

Teach First will partner with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) to drive continuous improvement and deliver PGCE and trainee services. NIoT will apply their research expertise and school-wide insights to refine delivery, monitor impact and strengthen the trainee experience. 

Find out more from the press statement and contract award notice. 

6. Consultation on shaping the future of early years teaching

The Department for Education has launched a consultation seeking views on reforms to how early years teachers are trained and supported, with the aim of strengthening training quality, improving career pathways, and raising the status of early years teaching across all settings.

The consultation runs until 24 September.

We are particularly interested to hear from the schools sector on:

Through the consultation we are exploring options for how those with Early Years Teacher Status/Early Years Professional Status can convert their qualification to QTS, in a proportionate way. Those who are currently running or undertaking Early Years Initial Teacher Training or the Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship, or planning to over the next few years, should feel assured that the existing programmes will be unaffected by the consultation itself, and this activity can and should continue unaffected. If you would like to know more about these programmes, or are interested in delivering please contact:

EYITT.GENERALENQUIRIES@education.gov.uk or EYTDA.ENQUIRIES@education.gov.uk.

Find out more about the consultation on shaping the future of early years teaching..

Submit your consultation response before 24 September.

7. Quality requirements and adjustments for individual circumstances

To support providers to make adjustments (where appropriate) to the quality requirements for individual trainees with exceptional circumstances, DfE have worked with Ofsted to clarify where adjustments are possible and what providers should consider when making these adjustments.

The quality requirements set out in the initial teacher training (ITT) criteria and supporting advice aim to ensure that every trainee experiences a high-quality, and coherent programme of ITT. All accredited ITT providers should design a curriculum that is underpinned by the ITTECF and meets the requirements set out in the ITT criteria and supporting advice.

There are requirements in the ITT criteria and supporting advice that are set in legislation and therefore apply to every trainee, regardless of individual circumstances. These are the requirement that training should take place wholly or mainly in England, all trainees should hold a first degree (or equivalent) and should be assessed by the accredited provider against the Teachers’ Standards before gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Accredited ITT providers must also have due regard to wider legislation that impacts ITT, non-exhaustively listed in the ITT criteria and supporting advice.

The ITT criteria and supporting advice also sets out requirements that are vital to ensuring all trainees can gain a breadth of experience during their ITT programme. This includes the requirement for programmes to cover four consecutive school years and placements in two different schools. These requirements ensure trainees gain the knowledge, skills and experience of teaching pupils of different ages and backgrounds, and to gain exposure to different teaching strategies and approaches to curriculum design.

Other programme design requirements include the minimum time spent on ITT placements (days and minimum average hours in the classroom), intensive training and practice, and teaching an 80% timetable. DfE and Ofsted recognise that there will be exceptional circumstances where programmes will need to be adjusted to ensure that trainees are given the best chance to meet the requirements for QTS. This may include adapting the programmes for individual trainees who experience unforeseen circumstances at a placement school and/or barriers to their learning. In these cases, the minimum times outlined in the ITT criteria would not apply to those individual trainees.

DfE and Ofsted are unable to advise on the appropriateness of individual adaptations. During inspections, Ofsted will consider the extent to which trainees benefit from an ambitious curriculum that prepares trainees to teach their subject(s) and phase and prepares them well for the realities of teaching. Providers should use their judgement about whether it is possible to make adjustments to the programme design and still maintain a high-quality experience for the trainee. DfE and Ofsted expect that adjustments will only be made in exceptional circumstances.

It is important that providers have the flexibility to adjust their programmes where needed to support a trainee to meet the requirements for QTS by the end of the course. Providers should be able to describe their intent behind the adjustments, their decision making and how they still ensured that the trainee experienced a high-quality curriculum that enabled them to demonstrate sufficiency with the Teachers’ Standards.