Government funding for teaching degree apprenticeships

The University of Brighton said it would help shape the direction of the course

The University of Brighton will be one of eight providers in England to receive government funding for offering teaching degree apprenticeships.

Apprentices will get a salary while training to become qualified teachers and will not need to pay any course fees.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the scheme would help those who could not afford to go to university.

The university said it would recruit up to 25 of England’s 150 pilot apprentices for the 2025 academic year.

'Recruitment challenges'

Trainee teacher courses usually require candidates to have a degree to enrol, the DfE said.

Lis Bundock, a principal lecturer in education at the University of Brighton, said: “Interest in degree apprenticeships is gathering pace among school leavers and career changers attracted by the incentive of salaried on-the-job training and the avoidance of debt.

“The sector is currently experiencing significant recruitment challenges and we believe this route will attract a range of different groups of applicants into teaching.”

Apprentices will spend three days a week working in a school and two days studying at university. The course takes four years to complete.

The DfE will give eight universities £12,500 to develop the course. It is yet to confirm how much money apprentices will earn, but said wages would reflect trainee responsibilities at each stage of their course.

The University of Brighton said its apprenticeship was open to secondary school level maths specialists only for the 2025 academic year.

It will expand to include additional subject and primary-age learning from 2026.

The University of Sussex said it was intending to offer a teaching apprenticeship in "the next few years" but it could not confirm that it was approved and who the university's partner was at this early stage.

Other universities in England will offer the apprenticeships, but will not get the £12,500 in government funding.