FAQs

Before Applying

What is a SCITT programme?

A SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training) programme enables graduates to enter the teaching profession through a school-based route. This enables them to learn to teach on the job.

A SCITT provider is an organisation which has been accredited to award Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

What is QTS and PGCE

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is a legal requirement for many schools in England and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools.

A Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is a postgraduate qualification studied at level 7 that sits alongside QTS. These credits are earned at Master's level.

By successfully training with Future Teacher Training you would gain both QTS and a PGCE.

When do applications open / close?

Applications open every October, and run continuously until the end of the academic year.

Our courses are highly competitive and we will close each subject offer once it is full; therefore, we would encourage early applications to avoid disappointment.

How is the course structured?

For the majority of time you will learn ‘on the job’ through school-based training. Placements are vital in providing you with the broadest range of experience to help prepare you in becoming an outstanding teacher.

We believe the most effective way to experience all aspects of school life is to be based in one main host school for the majority of the course, with supplementary placements during the training year, designed to diversify and tailor your training experience against your own individual development needs.

These shorter, more focused placements will include a second placement during the spring term which will offer a contrasting experience within our network of excellent schools. Furthermore, trainee teachers will also benefit from a pre-age or post-age phase placement within a primary school, in order to benefit from understanding curriculum progression across the phases.

Our ITT professional training programme has been designed to allow trainees the opportunity to take responsibility for their own classes from the start of the academic year, whilst receiving high-quality mentoring and training. As the year progresses, you will increase the number of classes for which you are responsible.

What funding options are available?

That depends on the route.

Most of our courses are fee paying programmes and the course fees are £9,250.

Many trainees will be eligible for a tax-free bursary paid through the Department for Education and other funding, with amounts varying depending on the route.

Please take a look at the 'Routes' page on our site for more information.

Can I apply overseas?

Overseas applicants from countries outside the EU must have the right to remain in the UK.

Applicants from other EU/EEA Countries

EU applicants must have ‘pre-settled status’ or ‘settled status’, this excludes the Republic of Ireland who are eligible to apply with an Irish passport.

Citizens from a country inside the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Applicants from the Republic of Ireland

Irish citizens can continue to enter, work and study in the UK under the Common Travel Area.

They are charged the same fees as UK nationals, and may be eligible to some of the same funding.

Applicants from non-EU/EEA countries

For any of our courses you will need to have the right to study or work and this must be valid for the duration of the course.

Financial or funding entitlements for this route are not guaranteed for overseas applicants and we are not able to provide visa sponsorship.

I have non-UK based qualifications. Can I still apply?

In order to prove that you have suitable qualifications for our training routes, we require applicants who have not received their education in the UK, to obtain a 'statement of equivalency' from ENIC (formerly known as NARIC) in order to formally verify that your qualifications are equivalent to the UK standard. We recommend that this is done before you apply.

There are equivalency testing services available to acquire these qualifications before the start of your training. However, please speak to a member of the team to clarify any advice you receive as some courses may not be deemed acceptable. We are happy to advise on suitable equivalence testing agencies to include A Star Equivalency.

Can I apply if I am still on my degree course, or waiting for GCSE results?

If you are still studying your degree, you may apply but any offer of a place will be conditional on you obtaining your degree as per the entry criteria required to train to teach within the UK.

All trainees will need GCSE English language and mathematics at a grade 4 / C or above (or equivalent qualification).

You may apply before you have your GCSE results, but any offer made would be conditional on you obtaining a Grade C/4 or above in each of the required GCSE qualifications.

After Applying

What will happen at my interview?

If we feel you meet our criteria, we will formally invite you to a first-stage interview. This initial interview will assess a candidate's suitability to ‘train to teach’ on one of our teacher training courses. The interview will involve:

Pre-interview tasks
Online panel interview
Post-interview tasks

Applicants applying for one of our salaried courses will then continue to a final school-based interview. This provides an opportunity for you to meet your potential employing school and aims to explore your suitability to manage the demands of a higher teaching load and responsibility for classes.

There may be some instances where a second-stage interview is required to further explore the suitability of a candidate applying for one of our unsalaried courses.

Pre-interview tasks

You will be asked to complete and return a series of tasks prior to your interview. This includes:

a short essay on ‘What makes great teaching?’
a lesson plan outline on a set learning objective specific to the subject you have applied for

Online panel interview

The online panel interview will last around 45 minutes and will be recorded.

We will ask you a series of questions about why you have chosen teaching as a career, and why you have chosen our route and specifically us as a provider. There will also be the opportunity to ask any questions you may have at this point.

Post-interview tasks

After the interview we will ask you to complete a subject-knowledge task. This will be a GCSE-style question, for which no preparation is required.

Depending on the GCSE (or equivalent) qualifications you hold you may be required to complete a literacy and / or numeracy assessment.

How long will it take to hear back?

We will endeavour to notify you about the outcome of your application within three working days after your interview, but there may be instances where it takes slightly longer.

We will notify you via the DfE’s Apply service and, for successful candidates, confirm this via email.

Following this, successful candidates will receive a formal training offer which will outline any conditions that must be met prior to the start of training.

These are usually standard conditions set by all teacher training providers as part of our safer recruitment practice but, for some applicants, may include completion of a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course prior to the start of training.

Full guidance on how to meet your conditions and, where required, register on a SKE course will be provided during our ‘onboarding’ (registration) process.

What documentation will you need to see before I can join the course?

At either interview or induction stage, we will take copies of the following documents. As a minimum, please ensure you are able to provide original copies of these documents when requested.

GCSE Maths certificate
GCSE English certificate
Degree certificate and transcript
Any other relevant qualifications (as requested)
ID documents
Proof of address (posted and received within three months of the date being viewed)
Right to Work in the UK

For all qualifications, we can only accept original certificates. Provisional statements of results (often issued alongside certificates on results day) or headed and signed letters will not be accepted. You can order certified copies from the awarding body if necessary.

You will then need to:

Complete an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
Undergo an Occupational Health assessment to assess fitness for teaching
Meet any further conditions as relevant and outlined in your formal offer letter

These are standard requirements that all teacher training providers are required to carry out. To support our ‘onboarding’ process, full details will be provided within our registration form, where we will be available to guide you through the process in time for the start of your course.

When does the course start and how long is it?

The programme will begin with an induction in the summer (often the first two full weeks in July) before your training year.

The course then begins in September, when you will return to your school and move into a teaching timetable, which will also include an afternoon of subject and / or professional studies training.

The course is full-time, and will conclude at the end of the academic year.

What will a typical week of training look like?

You will be based in your placement school for four days a week and attend your subject and / or professional studies every Tuesday which will be delivered using a hybrid model of online (remote) and onsite (face-to-face) training sessions. This will consist of both theory and practical training sessions that will enable you to develop your teaching skills, subject knowledge and practice away from the classroom.

Your subject mentor will meet you once a week to set and review targets, and will also observe you teach once a week to give you written feedback. In addition to this, you will be given formal written feedback at two key assessment points during the training year.

You will be entitled to calendared school holidays throughout the year and will need to manage your workload carefully to meet all your SCITT and university deadlines.

How are trainees’ placement schools decided?

We place each trainee very carefully on an individual basis, taking into consideration a number of factors which may include:

the trainee's starting point to include any relevant prior experience
the requirements and wishes of the schools
the applicant's prior connection with a school e.g. as a teaching assistant
the applicant's ongoing connection with a school e.g. as a parent or governor
experience and personalities of the mentors available
any specific training development needs

How is the course assessed?

Trainee teachers are assessed throughout the year through assignments, evidence collection, teaching observations and school placements.

Two reports are generated to measure overall progress and set challenging targets for next steps.

What will my teaching timetable look like?

Your holidays will follow the term dates of your placement school.

Your weekly timetable will be decided at the discretion of your school, in line with our indicative guidance.

Unsalaried route

All trainees on this route will start on a lower teaching load between six and eight periods per week until the end of the autumn term, after which this usually increases to between twelve and fourteen lessons per week.

Timetable teaching hours are monitored by the SCITT team to ensure that you are fully supported and that current Department for Education requirements are met.

Salaried route

As an employee of the school, salaried trainees will invariably be teaching more lessons from the start of term one in September. You should expect to take on additional duties, such as parents' evenings, or break duty.

For this reason, we expect applicants to be applying for this route to have experience of working in schools. However, to reflect your status as a new professional who is just starting out in your teaching career and embarking on a training route, you will start with a reduced timetable and build up during the course of the year.

The timetable will always allow for regular mentor meetings, collaborative working and observations of others.

How many hours of study will the training involve?

The training programme will require the commitment equivalent to that of a serving full-time teacher in terms of the length of school day, plus additional preparatory and academic work. The programme cannot be contained within a particular number of hours per week.

You are usually expected to be at school by 8am, and remain on site until 16:00, sometimes later. Training sessions on a Tuesday afternoon run until 17:00, which is a mandatory aspect of the course for all trainees to attend.

My questions isn't on the list?

No problem!

Please feel free to get in touch and we will get back to you as soon as possible.