Guidance

School Direct (salaried) funding manual: 2026 to 2027 academic year

Updated 10 December 2025

Applies to England

School Direct (salaried)

Grant funding is available as a contribution to the training and salary costs for qualifying trainees on School Direct (salaried) courses.

We make payments to initial teacher training (ITT) providers in 11 instalments, based on the trainee data you submit.

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.

If we provide grant funding as a contribution to the training and salary costs, you cannot charge trainees for qualified teacher status (QTS).

School Direct (salaried) trainees are not eligible for a training bursary or student finance. This is because they are employed while they train. You will need to tell your trainees if they need to pay any fees.

Teaching duties 

You should decide before the start of your trainee’s course the teaching duties they are required to perform.

The ITT criteria specify that trainees on employment-based courses should not perform more than 90% of a full-time teacher’s duties. This limit applies to all School Direct (salaried) courses.

Who can offer School Direct (salaried) places

ITT provider

The ITT provider is the agreed point of contact for placement schools and partner schools. They hold permission to recruit to ITT courses on behalf of the partnership.

The ITT provider is responsible for the funding arrangements for the partnership and is accountable for grant funding received, its distribution and assurance.

Lead partners 

Lead partners will work within the ITT partnership. They will have a partnership agreement with the accredited ITT provider.

Lead partners can be:

• higher education institutions (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.

Partner schools

A partner school involved in ITT may employ the trainee, if it is state-funded, and may receive funding from the ITT provider.

State-funded partner schools may be the principal training school for any School Direct (salaried) trainee.

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

Ofsted inspections

In all cases, the accredited ITT provider is the accountable body for School Direct (salaried). School Direct (salaried) 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 trainees, and continue employing existing trainees, if employment at the school does not negatively affect the trainee or the quality of their training.

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

The ITT provider must be willing to offer any necessary support to the trainee 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 trainee.

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

Eligibility criteria for funded trainees

The ITT provider must make sure each funded trainee:

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

A trainee 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 think 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.

Changing lead partners or training route

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

A provider must not transfer a trainee 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 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

Grant funding rates

We will pay grant funding to ITT providers for the following subjects.

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

We will not pay funding for trainees on courses in other subjects.

Grant funding agreements (GFAs)

All ITT providers with permission to recruit to funded School Direct (salaried) 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 next month.

Conditions of grant

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

Schools and providers must tell trainees 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 trainees 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 trainee beforehand.

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

Trainees 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.

Trainees ineligible for grant funding 

If you choose to recruit trainees 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 trainees will need to be registered with register trainee teachers service (Register).

We cannot be held responsible for any costs associated with recruiting trainees 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
• trainee 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 trainee 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 trainee 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 School Direct (salaried) courses.

Flexible courses

ITT providers delivering part-time or accelerated courses will get the same School Direct (salaried) grant funding for each trainee as an equivalent full-time trainee.

We will pay this over the course of the same monthly instalment schedule as any other School Direct (salaried) trainee.

It is your responsibility to decide:

• the payment profile for the trainee’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 in the assurance and audit section.

Data requirements and reporting

Schools and ITT providers must share all data on School Direct (salaried) with us. This includes data on:

• applications
• recruitment
• employment outcomes

We mainly calculate School Direct (salaried) 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.

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 HEIs and non-HEIs.

ITT providers must also provide trainee 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 a trainee withdraws, ITT providers must update the trainee’s record in Register in the same month they have withdrawn.

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

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the School Direct (salaried) funding for each month or part-month the trainee remained in training.

For example, if a trainee starts a School Direct (salaried) 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 trainee data in Register
• recovered as part of the Annex G reconciliation exercise, after the end of the academic year

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

If a trainee 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 trainees taking part-time or accelerated School Direct (salaried) 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 a trainee to defer.

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

Trainees can only defer after 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 trainee starts. This is regardless of the year when they return.

If a trainee defers, providers must update the trainee’s record in Register in the same month 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 trainee 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 trainee’s return to the course, you must contact the ITT funding team with the relevant trainee and funding details to get the outstanding funding amount.

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

For trainees taking part-time or accelerated School Direct (salaried) 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:

• trainees do not start the course
• trainees leave before getting QTS, including trainees who accept a place and later withdraw
• we identify errors in trainee 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

Grant funding may also be recovered 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

Trainee records

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

Trainees 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 all trainee records in Register are complete. This includes amending the records of trainees 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 trainee details.

If these trainee 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 more 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 trainees 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 trainee resumed their training
• the trainee’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 School Direct (salaried) 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 trainees
• monitoring standards

The ITT provider will recommend trainees for QTS.

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 in the partnership of schools involved in ITT.

Employing school

The employing school is defined as the school that employs the trainee 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 Register data is incorporated into the funding model to confirm payments from December 2026.

This is based on the trainee 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 trainees 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 document and auditor report, if applicable.

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

• trainee 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

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeships 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.