Teacher Training

Earn a decent salary
Once you’ve qualified, the world is your oyster. You can work your way up the teaching ladder into a leadership role, or travel the world as your qualification is recognised internationally.

In England, teachers earn a minimum and maximum starting salary of the following depending on location. With head teachers earning upwards of £140,000 in some schools. Teachers are also entitled to a substantial pension, generous holidays and annual salary reviews, with most teachers moving up the pay range on annual basis.

• England, excluding London: £31,650 - £49,084
• London fringe: £33,075 - £50,471
• Outer London: £36,413 - £53,994
• Inner London: £38,766 - £60,092

Qualified teacher status (QTS)
You’ll receive QTS, which is a nationally recognised teaching qualification that allows you to teach in any school, run by a local authority in England.

Postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE)
You will also receive a PGCE accredited by Liverpool Hope University. This is an internationally recognised qualification, opening up opportunities for you to teach abroad. The PGCE is worth 60 credits towards a Master’s degree, should you wish to go on to further study.

Getting a job
Trainees often go on to work in their placement schools, meaning you may not need to apply for jobs elsewhere.

Early career teachers
Once you complete your teacher training, you’ll be known as an early career teacher (ECT) for the next two years of teaching. During these two years, you can receive an ECT package of training and support through Ambition Institute. We’re a Department for Education-approved provider of this programme. The benefit of completing your ECT training with us is that the repetition of concepts learnt during your teacher training is minimised, providing you with a consistent and stable foundation for you to continue your progression. Find out more about our Early Career Teachers programme.

Click here to see a visual breakdown of the structure. Note, this is for the full-time route across 12 months.

Summer term and starting the programme
Before your teacher training year begins, you’ll spend time getting to know your main placement school. This usually happens over the summer or in early September. You’ll have the chance to explore the school, meet your new colleagues, and start to feel part of the community.

At the very start of the programme, you’ll join a five-day conference with other new trainees. This is where you’ll connect with your peers, get support from experienced trainers, and begin developing the knowledge and skills you’ll use throughout your training year.

Your main school placement
After the conference, you’ll start working in your main placement school. Here, you’ll put what you’ve learnt into practice straight away, working with pupils in the classroom and getting to know teachers, support staff, and the wider school community.

Experience in different schools

To help you gain a broader view of education, you’ll also spend time in other local schools. These shorter placements will give you the chance to experience different types of schools, such as those with a different age group, religious backgrounds or urban/rural locations. This will help you see how schools can vary and build your confidence in different settings.

Your school partner will support you in finding placements that fit your needs and meet the requirements of the programme.

The programme week runs from Monday-Friday, where you will spend the majority of time in your main placement school.

Each week, you’ll focus on one key area of teaching. You’ll learn through a mix of independent study, group sessions with other trainees, and classroom practice. Education experts will guide you as you explore each topic and see how it works in real classrooms.

Our training covers five key areas:

• Behaviour: How to create calm, safe and purposeful classrooms where every pupil can achieve.
• Instruction: How to help all pupils learn, from presenting information clearly to encouraging independent learning.
• Curriculum: How to design lessons and sequences that help pupils build knowledge over time.
• Assessment: How to check what pupils have learned and respond when they need extra support.
• Professionalism: What it means to be a teacher and how to prepare for your career.

Each module introduces the key ideas behind good teaching, then shows you how to apply them step-by-step. You’ll see great teaching in action, discuss what works, and practise these approaches yourself, with support from your tutors and mentor.

We’ve designed the programme so you:

• Build confidence in your subject.
• Focus on the areas of teaching that can be most challenging.
• Learn about key topics, such as pupil behaviour, right from the start.
• Revisit your learning regularly, so you keep improving.

If you’re training to teach a secondary subject, at least 50% of your weekly modules will focus on your chosen subject. This helps you develop real expertise. If you’re training to teach primary, your modules will cover a range of subjects, building your confidence across the full primary curriculum.

You'll be working towards both Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Every aspect of the programme can contribute as evidence to your development as a teacher, from observations of your classroom practice to activities completed in online study modules.

Your progress is continuously tracked throughout the programme, and you will have the opportunity to review this with your mentor in regular review meetings.

Postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE)
We've intentionally designed the programme so that the PGCE is integrated into it, as opposed to being delivered as a separate course. This helps ensure everything you learn is aligned and your time is spent effectively.

You will study two modules related to your PGCE during the programme and complete two written assignments for each module. You’ll be able to reflect on your classroom experiences in your assignments. Passing these assignments will also automatically contribute as evidence towards your QTS qualification.

Qualified teacher status (QTS)
The curriculum is designed so that you build the knowledge and behaviours you need to meet all the Teachers' Standards for QTS by the end of the programme. The evidence which you have shown through your written assignments and classroom observations will be used to award you with this.

Length
This is an 11-month, full-time, postgraduate programme. You may also be able to do part-time training, spread over 20 months.

Support
Training to teach can be challenging, so we have incorporated several activities and services to help support you to look after your wellbeing during the programme, including:

• Mentor support: You’ll have one-to-one guidance from a dedicated mentor. Your mentoring sessions will include protected time to discuss your wellbeing, coaching for your classroom practice and support with planning for lessons.
• Programme structure: We have designed the programme so you are only focusing on one area of teaching practice at a time, ensuring your workload is manageable.
• Support plans: If needed, you will be provided with a support plan tailored to any specific learning, wellbeing or progress support you may require.
• Counselling services: If you’re studying the PGCE as part of the programme, you will have 24/7 access to specialist third-party counselling provided by Liverpool Hope University.
• Affinity networks: You’ll have the opportunity to connect with other trainees who have common interests or characteristics and be provided a space to connect and share experiences.

We, Ambition Institute, are the accredited teacher training provider by the Department for Education (DfE). This means that we are authorised by the DfE to design and deliver our teacher training programme.

Our school partners play a huge role in this delivery, as throughout the duration of the programme you will train in their schools. During this time, you will learn our curriculum, practise what you’ve learnt in a classroom and complete your relevant assignments, ready to achieve your QTS and PGCE.

We accept international qualifications that are equivalent to our eligibility criteria above. You will need to provide an ENIC statement of comparability to progress with your application; this costs £69.60. It takes 15 working days to complete your order from the date ENIC receives your qualification documents and payment. For more information and to apply for your ENIC statement, please visit UK ENIC.

Please also note that you must have a visa with permission to work in the UK full-time by the start and for the duration of the training programme. Unfortunately, Ambition Institute cannot sponsor your visa. You can find out more about which visa to apply for by visiting Get Into Teaching.

Training is open to anyone who might have an interest in becoming a teacher, has a degree or equivalent and has permission to work in the UK before their training begins. You might be:

• A recent graduate looking for the first step in your career.
• A teaching assistant looking to transition into teaching your own class.
• Looking for a completely new career path.

We welcome candidates of all ages, from all backgrounds, and with all types of experience. To be eligible, you will need meet our eligibility criteria listed.

Bursaries are tax-free incentives paid by the Department for Education and are available for certain subjects. You would not need to pay your bursary back.

Scholarships are tax-free payments provided by independent institutions through the government and are available for certain subjects. Like bursaries, you would not need to pay your scholarship back.

You cannot receive both a teaching bursary and a scholarship. However, you can get a bursary or scholarship, as well as any tuition fee loan and maintenance loan.

Additionally, you cannot receive a bursary, scholarship or student loan if you’re on a salaried teacher training placement.

• £29,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 in biology, geography and languages
• £10,000 in art and design
• £5,000 in English

• £31,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £28,000 in French and Spanish

You must be eligible for student finance to receive a bursary or scholarship. The only exception to this is if you are training to teach physics or languages.

Check your eligibility for bursaries and scholarships here.

Some of our school partners offer teacher training with a salary. You can find which partners offer this by reading their descriptions on our partner map tool before applying.

Please note, if you decide to take a salaried placement, you are employed as you train and would therefore not be eligible for a bursary, scholarship or student finance.

Non-UK citizens bursaries and scholarships
Most non-UK citizens will not be eligible for financial support from the UK government. However, if you are applying to train to teach languages or physics you may be entitled to:

• A bursary up to the value of £29,000.
• Or a scholarship worth up to £31,000 for physics or £28,000 for French and Spanish.

If you are not eligible for financial support, you will need to cover the cost of your tuition fees and living costs for the duration of the training programme.

Non-UK citizens and salaried placements
The tuition fee can be paid in three instalments across the school terms. Payments will be due at the end of the month in October, February, and May.

• Full-time trainees: £9,535
  Broken into 3 payments (October: 25%, February: 25%, May: 50%)
• Part-time trainees: £7,145 per year
  Broken into 6 payments (Year 1 – October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%, Year 2 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%)

Learn with England’s largest professional development provider
Ambition Institute is England’s largest professional development provider for teachers and school leaders. In 2024/25 1 in 10 teachers and leaders in state-funded schools developed professionally with us.

Improve children’s lives
Our mission as a charity is to help young people reach their full potential, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Train in school
You’ll do most of your training in one school, giving you immediate opportunities to practise the theory you’ve learnt in a classroom and build relationships with teachers, staff, and the wider school community. By the end of your training, you’ll have the confidence to teach in a classroom independently, you’ll also stand a great chance of securing a permanent role.

Receive mentor and wellbeing support
Get weekly one-to-one guidance from a dedicated mentor. Your mentoring sessions will also include protected time to discuss your wellbeing.

Get a placement to suit you
Whether it be the city where you studied or the town you grew up in, through our national network of 350+ partner schools across England you can train in a location that suits you.

Become an expert in a subject you're passionate about
At least 50% of your weekly modules will focus on your chosen secondary subject. This means, through our programme, you'll be given the foundation skills and knowledge to become an expert teacher in your chosen subject. For context, typically other in-school training programmes offer a 30% subject focus.

Learn flexibly
Both full and part-time training routes are available.

Benefit from blended learning
We blend the high-quality academic training you’d expect to get from a university with immersive, classroom learning. You’ll benefit from face-to-face training sessions and theoretical study on our online learning portal.

"My confidence has definitely grown a lot in the classroom. I was really worried about if I would be a good teacher. Now I know I can do it. I can teach whole lessons, I can build great relationships. It's been amazing for my confidence to know I can do all these things."
- Esme, university graduate and trainee teacher.

“I have wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time and I’m very happy that I made the decision to change career. I’m loving being a trainee teacher and, although the course can be intense, I’m glad I chose the school based route as I’m learning so much every week.”
- Michelle, career changer and trainee teacher.

"It was the headteacher’s encouragement more than anyone else’s that led me to make the decision to do my initial teacher training. I was doing all this teaching anyway, and thought, I might as well give it a go. And I wanted to stay at this school, so I started my training."
- Ellie, career changer and worked in school previously, now a trainee teacher. Read more about Ellie's journey from veterinary science to teaching science.

"Mentors can provide praise, feedback and honesty, all of which is borne from a place of understanding. We’re all practising teachers, so we know what trainees are experiencing."
- Lyn, trainee teacher mentor.

Marie Hamer is the Executive Director at Ambition Institute. She is a former school leader and teacher, and in the past has held roles as Head of Ark Teacher Training, an Outstanding SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training), and was the National English subject lead at Teach First. She has worked closely with the Department for Education as an Expert Advisor for the development of the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and was a member of the Expert Working Group developing the International Qualified Teacher Status Core Content Framework.

Dr Neil Gilbride is an Associate Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute contributing to the curriculum for our Teacher Training programme. Over the past 17 years, Neil has gained experience within schools and Higher Education around children's learning, special educational needs, teacher development and school leadership. Neil's research explores the psychology of decision making, complexity theory and leadership development.

Melissa Thomlinson is a Dean in our Learning Design team overseeing the golden thread of curriculum from Teacher Training through the Early Career Teacher programme. She was a teacher and national subject leader for a multi-academy trust before joining a founding team which set up a SCITT. She has consulted on national framework design for the Department for Education.

Genevieve Field is the Director of Ambition's Teacher Training programme. She is a former teacher and senior leader who was part of the founding team and later led Initial Teacher Training for Ark Schools. Since becoming a Director at Ambition in 2018, she led a national DfE-funded school improvement contract, Early Careers Framework (ECF) pilot for the Education Endowment Fund and led the early roll-out and post-covid expansion of the DfE funded ECF programme across England. She is a long-term school governor and a trustee for multiple trusts in England.

• East London
• North London
• South London
• West London

• Bedfordshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Norfolk
• Suffolk

• Cumberland
• Greater Manchester
• Lancashire
• Merseyside

• County Durham
• Cumbria
• Tyne and Wear

• Middlesbrough
• Redcar and Cleveland
• West Yorkshire

• Derbyshire
• Leicestershire
• Nottinghamshire

• Staffordshire
• Shropshire
• Warwickshire
• Wolverhampton

• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Kent
• Oxfordshire
• Surrey
• Sussex

• Swindon

Application
When the applications are open you will register with your chosen partner and complete Ambition's short application form - this will take you approximately 15 minutes to complete. Note, you can only apply for one preferred school partner.

Interview
Our friendly team at Ambition will then assess your application and if you are eligible, will pass your application to your preferred school partner. You will then be invited to attend an interview by this partner, they will be in touch with you to arrange this. Your invite will include:

• Details about the structure of the interview, including the questions which will be asked and any tasks you will be asked to complete, so you are able to see these beforehand.
• Tips to help you prepare.
• Information you'll need to bring to the interview.

You will also be asked to complete some short online multiple-choice tests as part of the assessment stage, no revision or preparation is required for this. Additionally, you will need to share your proof of eligibility as part of this stage.

Watch Luke's Come with me to my Teacher Training programme interview video.

Offer
If you are successful at the interview, you will be provided with a conditional offer. The conditions of the offer are dependent on you completing the relevant pre-programme checks, such as checking degree certificate gradings and DBS check.

If you still have a question you can contact our Teacher Training Admissions Team via email at [email protected] or call us on 020 3846 5828.

Please note emails and phone calls can only be answered Monday-Friday, 9-5pm.

Unlike university-based teacher training programmes, where you have a number of different placements, our programme allows you to do most of your training in one school. The big benefit of this is that you can put your academic learning into practice in a classroom environment where you feel familiar and comfortable.

You’ll learn through a combination of self-guided learning, face-to-face and online sessions with other trainees. In-school activities will include classroom teaching practice, peer support and one-to-one guidance from your mentor. The practical teaching experience you gain will mean you finish the training confident to teach in a classroom.

You will also have a dedicated mentor – an experienced teacher – throughout your training who works alongside you in your school to offer guidance and support.

To be eligible, you will need:

• An undergraduate bachelor's degree with honours, or equivalent.
• A GCSE grade 4/C or above in English and maths, or equivalent.
• Primary school trainees will need a GCSE grade of 4/C or above in science, or equivalent.

This is an 11-month full-time postgraduate programme; alternatively, some of our partners offer part-time placements. A part-time option is available over 20 months, but not all partner schools offer this option. Use our partner tool to see which of our partners are offering part-time options.

You need to let us know about your previous work history for two reasons:

1) For us to review your previous employment experience and ask for further information or details where needed.

2) To confirm any gaps in employment to ensure we’re compliant with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023.

If you haven’t already done so, complete your work history by inputting details of each job you’ve held since the age of 18, this should include both part-time and full-time work.

Once you complete this, you will need to tick the box to confirm the information is correct and save. If you don’t have any previous work history you won’t need to enter any information, but you will still need to tick the box to confirm this.

Completing your work history is compulsory, you can also upload your CV to the file section.

Where do I add my work history? Go to My Teacher Training, in the ‘Pre-programme checks’ section, available from the homepage.

We accept international qualifications that are equivalent to our below eligibility criteria:

• An undergraduate bachelor's degree with honours, or equivalent.
• A GSCE grade 4/C or above in English and maths.
• Primary school trainees will need a GSCE grade of 4/C or above in science.

Please note you do not need to have prior teaching experience, however, some of our partners will want you to have a degree and/or A Level related to the subject you wish to teach.

You will also need to provide an ENIC statement of comparability to progress with your application, this costs £69.60. For more information and to apply for your ENIC statement, please visit UK ENIC or call Get Into Teaching at +44 800 389 2500 to get a free verbal assessment.

Please also note that you must have permission to work in the UK full-time by the start and for the duration of the training programme. Unfortunately, Ambition Institute cannot sponsor your visa.

By the start of the training, international candidates must have a visa with permission to work in the UK full-time for the duration of the programme. You can find out more about which visa to apply for by visiting Get Into Teaching.

You will be based in one core school for most of your training. The first stage of applying is via our partner tool, which will ask you:

• To choose where you want to train.
• Whether you want to be in a primary or secondary school.
• What subject you want to specialise in (for secondary) or phase (for primary).
• Whether you want to train full-time or part-time.

Based on your answers to the above we will match you to a school for you to then complete your application.

Although most of your training will be in one school, you will also complete the following placements.

• 10-15 days placement in another school during the final term.
• 5-10 days in an alternative environment to your main school. For example, in a secondary, primary, or special educational needs and disability (SEND) school,

It’s up to you! You can choose to teach in a primary or secondary school. If you’re hoping to teach in a secondary school, the pupils will be aged between 11 and 16. If you’re teaching in a primary school, the pupils will be aged between 4 and 11 you will need to be able to teach a wider range of subjects.

In a secondary school, you will have the opportunity to select your preferred subject. Some core secondary subjects are more popular than others, so it’s best to apply early.

Yes, you will be training with other people on our programme. From the very beginning of the programme, you will become part of a regional network, working with others either in your school or in your local network, and you will become part of a national cohort of people training with Ambition. You will have regular opportunities to come together with other trainees to learn, share your experiences, and work collaboratively.

You’ll achieve qualified teacher status (QTS), a nationally recognised teaching qualification. When you’ve successfully completed the programme, you will also receive a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). This is an internationally recognised qualification, opening up opportunities for you to teach abroad. The PGCE is worth 60 credits towards a master’s degree if you want to go on to further study.

Some of our school partners offer teacher training with a salary. You can find which partners offer this by reading their descriptions on our partner map tool before applying.

Please note, if you decide to take a salaried placement, you are employed as you train and would therefore not be eligible for a bursary, scholarship or student finance.

Unless your partner has specified you can receive a salaried training place, you will need to fund the tuition fee.

Our programme costs £9,535 for full-time study and £7,145 per year for part-time study.

Full-time trainees: £9,535
Payments are broken into three instalments across terms
(October: 25%, February: 25%, May: 50%)

Part-time trainees: £7,145 per year
Payments are broken into three instalments across terms
(Year 1 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%, Year 2 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%)
For both programme lengths, payments will be due at the end of the month in October, February, and May.

Placement schools often go on to hire their teacher trainees. You will have built up relationships with your school's network so should have a few opportunities in your area. There’s a lot of demand for teachers in England so you should soon be able to secure your first teaching job soon after your training.

Once you have completed our Teacher Training programme, you will be qualified to teach straight away. The minimum starting salary for a teacher in the UK ranges from £31,650 to £38,766 for inner London.

Typically, after five years of teaching, your salary could increase to £43,607 or more in London.

The DfE requires all applicants to have an occupational health assessment to ensure they are physically and mentally fit to teach. This starts with a questionnaire about your health, we will be contacting all successful applicants in the summer to collate the information we need for this.

Once you have registered with the partner of your choice, you'll need to complete and submit your application via the My Teacher Training platform.

If you are struggling to log in into the platform please contact our Teacher Training Admissions Team via email at [email protected] or call us on 020 3846 5828.

Once you complete your teacher training, you’ll be known as an early career teacher (ECT) for the next two years of teaching. During these two years, you’ll do a mandatory ECT two-year induction programme which will usually be provided by your school or trust. This will allow you to advance your teaching skills using the same concepts and terminology that you learned through your teacher training year.

Ambition Institute is a Department for Education (DfE) approved provider of this induction programme. The benefit of doing your ECT programme with us is that the repetition of concepts learnt during your teacher training is minimised, providing you with a consistent and stable foundation for you to continue your progression.

If you're already working in a school and meet our eligibility criteria to join this programme then we would suggest the following steps:

Let your line manager know you're keen to progress your career but want to stay in your current school.

Get in touch with us via [email protected] and tell us:

• The name and region of your school.
• Contact information of the headteacher.
• And the subject/phase you would like to teach.

We'd be happy to approach your school and connect them with your local ITT partner to see if we can make this work for you.

As part of the application process, you will need to choose a school partner in a region suited to you. Once you receive a conditional offer, your chosen school partner will work with you to find a main school placement within this region. You will also undertake a shorter placements in local contrasting schools, allowing you to expand your experience across different settings.

For your school placements, your school partner will work with you to find placements that are suitable for your needs, whilst meeting any requirements for the programme.

Getting some school experience prior to completing your application can allow you to find out more about a career as a teacher. This extra step will also look great on your application.

To apply for school experience you'll need:

• The right to work in the UK.
• A degree (or to be studying for one).
• To be aged 18 or over.

Click here to search for school experience days near you.

That's great to hear!

If you're thinking of joining us as a delivery partner or you're part of a school that is open to be paired with an existing ITT delivery partner, please complete our Delivery Partner Enquiry form and select 'Initial Teacher Training' in the box provided. We will then get in touch with you.