Guidance

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding manual: 2026 to 2027 academic year

Updated 10 December 2025

Applies to England

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship

The postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA) is an initial teacher training (ITT) route that:

• combines paid work with off-the-job training
• leads to qualified teacher status (QTS)

Costs

Grant funding is available as a contribution to the costs for qualifying apprentices on postgraduate teaching apprenticeship courses.

We make payments to ITT providers in 11 instalments, based on the apprentice data you submit.

Providers may prefer to use the grant funding for salary costs, because apprenticeship funding is restricted to training and assessment.

You are responsible for making sure all grant funding, designated to support salary costs, reaches the employing school to be used for its intended purpose.

Funding varies by subject. Not all subjects are eligible for funding. There are more details in the grant funding rates section.

Apprenticeship funding

Employers can access apprenticeship funding from their apprenticeship service account to cover the cost of:

• training
• assessing the apprentice

This funding is available regardless of whether the employer pays the apprenticeship levy.

The apprenticeship funding rules and technical funding guide have more detail on apprenticeship funding.

Bursaries and student finance

As this is an employment-based ITT route, apprentices are not eligible for:

• an ITT bursary
• student finance

Where grant funding is provided, you cannot charge apprentices for QTS.

You will need to tell your apprentices if they need to pay any fees.

Apprenticeship structure

ITT providers and employing schools will decide the overall structure of the apprenticeship, but the apprentice must spend a minimum of 278 hours completing ITT off-the-job training. This should develop their skills, knowledge and competence in the classroom.

After completing the apprenticeship, the apprentice will be assessed against the teachers’ standards required to get QTS. ITT providers will recommend that apprentices get QTS in the usual way.

End-point assessment

This apprenticeship has a statutory integrated end-point assessment (EPA).

The EPA will use the assessment arrangements in use for other ITT routes and will be completed simultaneously, as outlined in Skills England’s postgraduate assessment plan for teachers.

The assessment has 2 components:

• lesson observation
• professional discussion

The EPA organisation (a regulator approved education provider) will conduct the EPA.

Completing the apprenticeship

The apprentice will complete their apprenticeship when they have both:

• met the requirements of the ITT standards
• been recommended for QTS

Who can offer PGTA places

ITT providers must decide with an employing school whether they want to offer an apprenticeship place.

Schools can employ apprentices, but only accredited ITT providers can deliver the off-the-job training for the teaching apprenticeship.

Lead partners on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR) can provide apprenticeship training to levy- and non-levy-paying employers.

Partner schools

A partner school involved in ITT may employ an apprentice.

State-funded partner schools may:

• be the principal training school for an apprentice
• get funding from the ITT provider

Independent schools:

• may contribute to the training
• are ineligible to receive grant funding from the ITT provider
• may be able to use funding from their apprenticeship service account to fund some or all of the training costs

Ofsted inspections

In all cases, the accredited ITT provider is the accountable body for the PGTA. The PGTA will form part of their ITT Ofsted inspection.

ITT providers should make sure partner schools have the capacity to undertake their responsibilities.

Schools in significant improvement or special measures can recruit apprentices, and continue employing existing apprentices, if employment at the school does not negatively affect the apprentice or the quality of their training.

The accredited ITT provider is responsible for maintaining the quality of its apprenticeship programme.

The ITT provider must be willing to offer any necessary support to the apprentice and partner school during the training period.

If the ITT provider cannot offer the necessary support, an alternative school in the partnership must employ the apprentice.

Schools and providers should email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk to arrange the transfer.

Eligibility criteria for funded apprentices

The ITT provider must make sure each funded apprentice:

• meets the ITT criteria for all ITT programmes
• is eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher

An apprentice is not eligible if they:

• hold, or are eligible to receive, QTS
• are recognised as a qualified teacher with QTLS

Eligibility for QTS

QTS is a legal requirement to teach in certain English schools and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England.

There are different routes depending on an applicant’s prior experience and qualifications.

Applicants can use our online eligibility checker to check their eligibility to apply for QTS through the recognition service. If the checker suggests an applicant is eligible to apply for QTS, advise them to apply for QTS through the recognition service.

If an applicant does not believe they are eligible to apply for QTS through the service, they must satisfy the provider that they do not meet at least one of the eligibility criteria listed, before a grant assessment can be continued.

Some teachers who are trained and recognised overseas may be able to apply for QTS without further assessment or training.

Email professional.recognition@education.gov.uk with any other queries.

Separate continuing professional development may be appropriate for those who already hold QTS.

Qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS)

QTLS holders who hold Society for Education and Training (SET) membership are ineligible for grant funding.

Individuals who hold QTLS status and are SET members are considered qualified teachers, and are included on the Teaching Regulation Agency’s Teaching Record System.

They must continue to maintain their SET membership for this to continue.

You can check their status on SET’s professional status register.

Early years teacher status (EYTS)

Applicants who hold EYTS may:

• apply for an apprenticeship place
• be eligible for funding purposes

Permission to recruit

ITT providers interested in delivering the apprenticeship must have permission from us to recruit, if you wish to access any associated grant funding.

You must be registered on the APAR before doing this.

Changing lead partners or training route

After a partnership agreement is drawn up and places have been advertised to applicants, the ITT provider should make all reasonable efforts to deliver the course as described.

A provider must not transfer an apprentice from one partnership or ITT route to another without prior agreement from the ITT funding team. Email ITT.Funding@education.gov.uk.

We must confirm all changes before you offer a place to any applicant.

For more information about changing any aspect of courses that have been agreed with us, email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk.

Failure to fully comply with the criteria and requirements may result in:

• the withdrawal of funding
• non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation

Grant funding rates

We will pay grant funding to ITT providers for each apprentice, depending on the subject of their ITT course.

The grant funding amounts set out below apply to any postgraduate teaching apprenticeship that starts in the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

Apprenticeships may start earlier, from 1 June 2026, but we will not make the first grant payment before September 2026, even if the apprentice starts before this date.

For the 2026 to 2027 academic year, grant funding for all subjects is the same value as the bursary available.

Employers can access apprenticeship funding for training and assessment costs in all subjects.

Subject	Postgraduate teaching apprenticeship funding
Chemistry	£29,000
Computing	£29,000
Mathematics	£29,000
Physics	£29,000
Languages (including ancient languages)	£20,000
Design and technology (including engineering and food technology)	£20,000
Biology	£5,000
Geography	£5,000

Grant funding agreements (GFAs)

All ITT providers with permission to recruit to funded apprenticeship courses must enter a GFA with us.

We will only pay grant funding when a GFA is in place and due to start in September 2026.

We will contact all relevant ITT providers before the start of the academic year to ask for the appropriate documentation. We will send you a grant offer letter (GOL), which includes the terms and conditions of the 2026 to 2027 grant.

You must:

• fully complete all the highlighted sections in the GOL
• sign it, from your accounting officer
• email the completed document to GFA.ITTFunding@education.gov.uk

After you have done this, our responsible officer will countersign it and we will return it to the provider.

This countersigned document forms the GFA. You must keep it.

If a GFA is delayed, grant funding payments will be made in the following month.

Conditions of grant

You must use grant funding to support the specific apprentice only. You must not share funding across funded and non-funded places.

Schools and providers must tell apprentices if they need to pay additional fees – for example, for an academic qualification such as a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).

For the period of their training, all apprentices must be:

• employed by a school as an unqualified teacher
• paid in line with their employing school’s pay policy

Maintained schools and local authorities must follow the school teachers’ pay and conditions. This states that an unqualified teacher must be paid a salary within the minimum and maximum of the unqualified teacher pay range.

Pay rates must be clearly advertised to the apprentice beforehand.

Apprentices who are on a full-time course must be employed full-time.

Apprentices are typically employed for up to 12 months, starting from September. Any variation in the precise duration of training or employment will not affect the funding contribution attached to the place.

Apprentices ineligible for grant funding

If you choose to recruit apprentices who are on courses in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding, they must still:

• be eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher
• meet requirements identified in the ITT criteria

These apprentices will need to be registered with register trainee teachers service (Register).

We cannot be held responsible for any costs associated with recruiting apprentices in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding.

Payment of grant funding

Who we pay

We pay the grant directly to the ITT provider. ITT providers should identify funding arrangements and mechanisms to recover unused funds in written agreements with their partners.

When we pay

We will make payments in 11 monthly instalments from September to July, as set out in the funding cycle.

We will make payments on or around the third working day of each month. They are subject to:

• completion of grant funding documentation
• apprentice numbers being established from available data

We will make the first payment of the 2026 to 2027 academic year in September 2026.

If you get your first payment after September 2026, we will adjust it to include payments backdated to September.

We will make the final payment in July 2027.

How much we pay

We will calculate the payments from September to November 2026 using apprentice recruitment data available at that time. This funding may be at a preliminary rate.

We will adjust the monthly payment amounts from December 2026 onwards after you send us verified apprentice data from the ITT provider in the October ITT census. We will issue any arrears that may be due or recover funding as appropriate when we make this adjustment.

We will not provide any additional funding for the administration of PGTA courses.

Flexible courses

ITT providers delivering part-time courses will receive the same grant funding for each apprentice as an equivalent full-time apprentice .

We will pay this over the course of the same monthly instalment schedule as any other PGTA apprentice.

It is the responsibility of the ITT provider to decide:

• the payment profile for the apprentice’s salary
• how the grant will be managed as a contribution towards this

We will calculate any funding that is owed to us in accordance with the criteria set out in the assurance and audit section.

Data requirements and reporting

Schools and ITT providers are required to share all data on apprenticeships with us. This includes data on:

• applications
• recruitment
• employment outcomes

We mainly calculate PGTA grant funding based on data which ITT providers submit through Register.

It is important that the data is:

• accurate
• complete
• submitted on time

Failure to meet these conditions is likely to result in the suspension of funding.

ITT providers and employers offering apprenticeship training must also provide data to the apprenticeships service.

Data requirements from schools

When a candidate has been recruited, we require employing schools to provide their ITT provider with accurate placement and employing school data.

Schools must tell providers promptly of any changes, such as withdrawals and deferrals.

Data requirements from ITT providers

Failure to comply with requests for data in an accurate or timely manner may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation for the ITT provider. Full details of the process are included in Register, for higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-HEIs.

ITT providers must also provide apprentice data to us as part of their Annex G assurance return. There are more details in the assurance and audit section.

Withdrawals and deferrals

Withdrawals

If an apprentice withdraws, ITT providers must update the apprentice’s record in Register in the same month they have withdrawn.

We will determine reconciliation on a pro rata basis. We will consider the apprentice’s actual withdrawal date in relation to the intended completion date.

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the relevant funding for each month or part-month the apprentice remained in training.   

For example, if an apprentice starts a PGTA course from September 2026 and leaves in March 2027, you can keep seven-elevenths of the grant funding.

Your funding will then either be:

• adjusted in-year, if you have updated the apprentice data in Register
• recovered as part of Annex G reconciliation exercise, after the end of the academic year

We will not reimburse ITT providers for any expenditure you make after the apprentice has withdrawn.

If an apprentice leaves without completing their ITT, the last date of training is the final date where you have evidence they were still in training or attendance for any learning that is part of their ITT.

We may ask for supporting evidence to corroborate the withdrawal date. The ITT provider, lead partner or employing school should keep all appropriate records.

For apprentices taking part-time or accelerated PGTA courses, we will consider the withdrawal date and course length. We will recover funding on a pro rata basis.

Deferrals

ITT providers, in agreement with the employing school, are responsible for making the decision to allow an apprentice to defer.

The ITT provider is responsible for reporting this to us through Register.

Apprentices can only defer once they have started their ITT course.

We will only pay the grant up to the maximum grant rate, relevant to the academic year in which the apprentice starts. This is regardless of the year when they return.

If an apprentice defers, providers must update the apprentice’s record in Register to show they have deferred.

How a deferral affects funding

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the relevant funding for each month or part-month the apprentice remained in training before deferring.

We will recover the remaining funding as part of a funding reconciliation exercise after the end of the academic year.

On the apprentice’s return to the course, you must contact the ITT funding team with the relevant apprentice and funding details to get the outstanding funding amount.

If the apprentice returns to the course and subsequently withdraws, we will recover funding based on the total time the apprentice was on the course.

For apprentices taking part-time or accelerated PGTA courses, we will consider the deferral date and course length when we calculate any funding adjustments or recoveries.

Assurance and audit

We will recover grant funding which we identify as recoverable as a result of this exercise.

In most of these cases, we will offset funding to pay to the ITT provider in future years.

If this is not possible, we will invoice the ITT provider for the outstanding amount.

We may recover grant funding because:

• apprentices do not start the course
• apprentices leave before getting QTS, including apprentices who accept a place and later withdraw
• we identify errors in apprentice data which schools and ITT providers submitted, which we have used to calculate the grant funding, resulting in an overpayment
• the grant funding is miscalculated, which results in an overpayment to the ITT provider
• a grant payment is made to an incorrect recipient
• a grant payment is made in error

We may also recover grant funding if you do not comply with the GFA. This includes, but is not limited to, failure to submit an Annex G in accordance with the requirements of the grant funding letter, or any subsequent communication from us.

If we need to recover grant funding, we may do this in the same or future academic years.

Evidence you need to keep or submit

Apprentice records

Employing schools and associated ITT providers must hold full records of all apprentices who get grant funding, including evidence of the apprentices’ academic qualifications achieved before they started their training.

Apprentices must have the degree which their assessment was based on, before they start the course. We may ask the provider for this evidence at any point during the academic year, as we  monitor quality and funding assurance.

ITT providers should make sure that all apprentice records in Register are complete. This includes amending the records of apprentices who:

• withdraw or defer from their ITT programme
• start later in the academic year
• return from earlier academic years

We may:

• delay or withhold payments to the ITT provider, if data is inaccurate or incomplete
• request this evidence from ITT providers, as we monitor quality and funding assurance

Annex G

ITT providers must submit an Annex G return to us by 31 December 2027.

As part of the grant assurance process, you must submit an audited breakdown of grant expenditure and corresponding apprentice details.

If these apprentice details differ from those submitted through Register, we may ask for more information or evidence to confirm these details. We may do this before we make any additional recovery or reimbursement payments.

We will send you details of the Annex G process after the 2026 to 2027 academic year.

If you fail to submit accurately completed and signed off assurance and audit documentation on time, we are likely to:

• withhold future ITT grants
• recover funding we have paid

We will seek more assurance in the following academic year for apprentices who:

• deferred their training to that year
• extended their training into that year

You need to keep all appropriate records for the next audit – for example:

• the date when the apprentice resumed their apprenticeship
• the apprentice’s current status

Failure to fully comply with the data reporting and assurance requirements set out in this manual may result in:

• the withdrawal of funding
• non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation

Types of organisations involved in postgraduate teaching apprenticeships and ITT partnerships

ITT provider

The ITT provider is accredited by the Department for Education (DfE), and can be:

• a HEI
• a SCITT provider

The accredited ITT provider has the experience of delivering teacher training and is accountable for:

• marketing
• selecting and assessing apprentices
• monitoring standards

The ITT provider will recommend apprentices for QTS.

Only accredited ITT providers that have successfully registered on the APAR can deliver off-the-job apprenticeship training.

Lead partner

Lead partners will work within the ITT partnership and have a partnership agreement with the accredited ITT provider. Lead partners may be:

• HEIs
• schools
• trusts
• other types of organisations (including teaching school hubs)

They will have the capacity and expertise to take on significant operational or strategic roles in the ITT partnership. They will work in collaboration with their accredited ITT provider.

Their responsibilities should be agreed and delegated through formal arrangements with the accredited ITT provider.

Partner school

The partner school is defined as any school within the partnership of schools involved in ITT.

Employing school

The employing school is defined as the school that employs the apprentice during their ITT year.

Independent schools

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive funding from the ITT provider.

Funding cycle

These are the most important events in the funding cycle.

June to July 2026

In your first year of delivery, we will ask you to submit your GFA to us.

If we need other documents, such as letters of variation, we will contact individual ITT providers separately.

August 2026

Apply acceptance data is incorporated into the funding model.

This allows us to make interim payments to you from September to November 2026, if you have a GFA in place.

Payment profiles are available in Register during this period.

November 2026

Your data in Register is incorporated into the funding model, to confirm payments from December 2026.

This is based on the apprentice registration returns submitted through Register, on or before the census closure date.

December 2026 to January 2027

We make payments, if you have a GFA in place, based on your data in Register.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

February to April 2027

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in February 2027 to include any changes submitted through Register since the census was published.

We make payments, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

May to July 2027

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in May 2027 to include any changes submitted through Register.

We make payments, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data.

We will consider any subsequent changes to your Register data on a case-by-case basis.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

Assurance and audit process

These are the most important events in the assurance and audit process.

September to December 2027

We send final assurance documents to you at the end of the academic year.

We pre-populate these with the amount of funding you have received, and the details of the apprentices the funding applies to.

The completed documents and auditor’s report (if applicable) help you to give us the necessary assurance for the amount received and the purpose it was used for.

We send you more guidance on this process at the same time.

You must return these by 31 December 2027.

January to March 2028

We apply a sampling process to gain assurance of the grant expenditure. This is in addition to the final assurance documents and auditor report, if applicable.

The sampling process involves assurance checks through the collection of evidence on sampled apprentices, including:

• apprentice ID
• withdrawals
• course information
• payment information

We complete recoveries and reimbursements through the payment profile or invoice.

Further information and contacts

Other ITT funding manuals

ITT bursary funding manual

School Direct (salaried): funding manual

Contacts 

Email ITT.Funding@education.gov.uk for queries from ITT providers about:

• funding and payments
• grant funding agreements

Email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk for queries about:

• permission to recruit
• Register
• October census queries
• any other data matters

Email ITT.Accreditation@education.gov.uk for queries about the ITT criteria.

For all other enquiries, contact DfE.