Guidance

Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2026 to 2027

Updated 7 October 2025

Applies to England

Overview

The Department for Education (DfE) is responsible for managing grant funding associated with school initial teacher training (ITT) courses.

This guidance refers to ITT funding for the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

For the previous academic year, read Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2025 to 2026.

Postgraduate bursaries and scholarships

Bursaries and scholarships are available to trainees on tuition-fee-based teacher training courses in England that lead to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS).

Receiving a bursary or scholarship depends on the trainee’s:

• highest relevant academic award
• ITT subject

In languages and physics, trainees starting courses in the 2026 to 2027 academic year will not need to be eligible for student finance to be eligible for a bursary or scholarship.

In all other subjects, trainees are only eligible for a bursary or scholarship if they are entitled to support under the student finance criteria.

Non-UK trainees should read Train to teach in England as a non-UK citizen. Applicants with a degree from outside the UK should use Teach in England if you trained outside the UK.

For 2026 to 2027, we’re offering bursaries of:

• £29,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £20,000 in design and technology and languages (including ancient languages)
• £5,000 in biology and geography

Applicants may be eligible for a bursary if they have a 1st, 2:1, 2:2 or master’s degree or a PhD.

We’re offering scholarships of:

• £31,000 for chemistry, computing and physics
• £22,000 for French, German and Spanish (no other languages)

Scholarships are usually available to applicants with a 1st, 2:1 or master’s degree or a PhD, though, in exceptional circumstances, they may be awarded to a graduate with a 2:2 and significant relevant experience.

Scholarships also come with a package of additional benefits from the relevant scholarship body:

• a tax-free scholarship
• membership to the professional body
• subject-specialist events and webinars held by professional bodies
• online and face-to-face workshops across the country
• subject-specialist mentors and coaching
• a community of scholars (ex-scholars, teachers, subject leaders)
• access to classroom resources
• continuing professional development (CPD) and networking events during the ITT year and as alumni

Scholarships are applied for separately to ITT and only awarded to high-calibre students who pass a robust application and interview process in one of the specialist subject areas. Scholarships are awarded instead of a bursary.

Scholarship applicants should apply to the relevant scholarship body. Details are available on the Get into teaching page.

Further guidance on postgraduate bursaries and scholarships is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

Undergraduate bursary

Undergraduates may be eligible for a bursary of £9,000 if:

• they’re studying on a QTS course in secondary mathematics or physics
• they’re studying on an opt-in QTS course in secondary undergraduate mathematics, physics, computing or languages
• their course starts in the 2026 to 2027 academic year

They’ll receive the bursary in the final year of their course.

If an eligible trainee is on a 4-year undergraduate course that leads to QTS and a master’s degree, they will receive a £9,000 bursary in both the third and fourth years of their course.

Further guidance on undergraduate bursaries is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

Undergraduate veteran teaching bursary

Undergraduate veterans may be eligible for a £40,000 training bursary if:

• they’ve left full time employment with the British Army, Royal Air Force or Royal Navy
• they left no more than 5 years before the start of their course
• they enrol on an eligible QTS course in secondary biology, chemistry, computing, languages, mathematics or physics
• their course starts in the 2026 to 2027 academic year

Trainees will receive £20,000 in each of the last 2 years of their course, in equal monthly instalments.

Further guidance on the undergraduate veteran teaching bursary is available in the initial teacher training (ITT) bursary: funding manual.

School Direct (salaried) route

For trainees on a School Direct (salaried) training route, we give grants to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs reaches the employing school, so it can be used for its intended purpose.

Grants are paid on a per trainee basis. For 2026 to 2027, we’re offering grants of:

• £29,000 for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £20,000 for design and technology and languages (including ancient languages)
• £5,000 for biology and geography

School Direct (salaried) trainees are not eligible for bursaries or scholarships.

Further guidance about School Direct (salaried) funding is available in the School Direct (salaried) funding manual.

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeships

For the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship training route, we give grants to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs reaches the employing school, so it can be used for its intended purpose.

This grant is in addition to apprenticeship funding, which is for training and assessment costs only.

For 2026 to 2027, postgraduate teaching apprenticeship grants are the same value as the bursary.

The additional apprenticeship funding is available in all subjects.

Grants are paid on a per trainee basis. For 2026 to 2027, we’re offering grants of:

• £29,000 for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £20,000 for design and technology and languages (including ancient languages)
• £5,000 for biology and geography

Further guidance about postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding is available in the postgraduate teaching apprenticeships funding manual.

Teacher degree apprenticeship pilot

We’re continuing to offer grants for up to 150 secondary mathematics trainees who start the teacher degree apprenticeship in the 2026 to 2027 academic year . The grants will be paid to ITT providers to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs.  

ITT providers are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding designated to support salary costs reaches the employing school so that it can be used for its intended purpose.

This grant is in addition to apprenticeship funding, which is for training and assessment costs only.

The grants cover the proportion of time trainees will spend studying towards their qualification, which we expect to be an average of 40% across the whole of the 4-year course.

Grant funding agreements

The grant funding agreement is between the ITT provider and DfE. It sets out how you should treat the grant funding, along with the relevant funding manuals and DfE grant funding agreement: terms and conditions.

ITT providers will need to complete and return the relevant grant funding agreement if:

• they’re a new ITT provider in the 2026 to 2027 academic year
• they did not receive grant funding in the 2025 to 2026 academic year such as a training bursary or a School Direct (salaried) or postgraduate teaching apprenticeship

We’ll contact the relevant ITT providers before the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

We’ll need to receive and accept the grant funding agreement before we release any grant funding. If you need more information, email GFA.ITTFunding@education.gov.uk.

Contact us

For funding and audit grant return queries, email the ITT funding team at itt.funding@education.gov.uk