Teacher Training (ITT)

The NIoT’s teacher training is a fully immersive school-centred programme – aspiring teachers will be in the classroom from the very start. But full immersion does not mean that you will be thrown in the deep end: our trainees are mentored and have central training once a week. And you’ll have the confidence of knowing that you are participating in a programme that was designed by some of the most experienced teachers and leaders in the country, drawn from four leading school trusts with decades of teacher-training between them. We also know from experience what headteachers look for in new teachers – so we will ensure that you develop the skills necessary for finding an Early Career Teacher role.

All our courses lead to QTS, a PGCE, and 60 master's level credits’.
For our PGTA course, the PGCE is optional and subject to an additional fee for candidates.

From the start of the 2025/26 academic year tuition fees for teacher training programmes will be £9,535 for full time teacher training courses and £7,145 for part-time teacher training courses. Please refer to the “Cost / funding” section below for further information.

If you are a school interested in the PGTA, visit the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship page for more information.

• Fully immersive: NIoT trainees are given 39 weeks of professional learning and teaching practice in a placement school.
• Learning applied quickly: You'll learn something on a Thursday (at Core Training) and apply it the next day.
• Fully supported: We care about the wellbeing of our trainees. So you'll have mentors who know you well, support your progress and cheer your successes.
• Advice on tap: Trainees who have concerns about any area of teaching – from classroom behaviour to workload management – are offered detailed support and guidance either locally or nationally.
• Spiral curriculum: Our curriculum is deliberately structured in order to reinforce previous learning. Your classroom practice will become more sophisticated as their knowledge builds.
• Research-informed: Our researchers are continually examining what works best in teacher training and using these insights to shape the programmes we offer.
• National cohort: You will belong to a network of like-minded individuals across the country.

Find out more about why you should study with NIoT.

• We are an institution dedicated to training teachers and school leaders at every stage of their careers – from trainee through to executive leader. We'll be by your side throughout your career.
• We were founded by four leading school trusts, with an established record in nurturing talent, helping teachers and leaders carve out the career that is right for them and working with children in their local communities.
• Our network of Associate Colleges across the country ensures that our programmes are targeted to their participants, reflecting local contexts and drawing on local expertise.
• We are rooted in schools. We know the day-to-day challenges that teachers face - how unpredictable classroom life can be. Because we were set up by schools, we also know what senior leaders are looking for in a new teacher – information that will be invaluable when it comes to helping you secure a job.

Structure:

• Pre-Autumn term: Flying start – a one-week programme for all NIoT new trainees, when we'll ensure that you have the basic tools necessary to prepare you for entering the classroom.
• Autumn term: You will have one main placement for the whole of this term. The course is fully immersive, which means that you’ll be teaching from the very start – but your timetable will be very small to begin with, increasing as the year progresses. You will be in your placement school four days a week and training in your campus one day a week. This means that you'll be able to learn new techniques, practise them and then apply them in school immediately.
• Spring term: You will spend four weeks of this term in a contrasting school placement. The aim is to broaden your experience and field of reference. This placement will be organised for you.
• Second half of spring term and summer term: You will return to your main placement school. This will help you to strengthen existing relationships and to deepen your teaching knowledge, as well as providing continuity for your learners.

What you'll learn:

1. Subject and curriculum knowledge: We'll support you with the fundamentals: why you're teaching an aspect of the curriculum, what's the best way to teach it, and how you can do it most successfully.
2. Planning for progress: How to plan effective, objective-driven lessons by observing expert colleagues, conceptualising and sequencing pupil progress over time, and creating opportunities for deeper learning and challenge.
3. Behaviour and relationships: How to nurture a culture of mutual trust and respect. How to create an inclusive and ambitious climate for learning, helping young people to achieve consistently high standards. How to provide a positive, predictable and safe environment for all pupils.
4. How students learn – inclusive pedagogy: How to ensure all our pupils experience success at the highest level by teaching new content, building on their pre-existing knowledge, using explanations and modelling and diagnosing and implementing strategies for all. How to provide opportunities for practice and retrieval, so as to maximise the chances that pupils will retain new information. How to avoid overloading young people with information.
5. Assessment and responsive teaching: How to draw on the different forms of assessment, in order to check for learner misconceptions and measure the depth of their understanding. How to use data effectively to support the needs of the pupils in your class.
6. Professional behaviours: How to step into the role of a teacher. What will your professional obligations be? How can you look after your own wellbeing? How to reflect on your own teaching practice and make use of the support around you. How to use wider networks and communities in order to strengthen your own knowledge.

• Primary (3-7) (fee-paying: Z492)
• Primary (5-11) (fee-paying: 28P6)
• Primary with mathematics (3-7) (fee-paying: E792)
• Primary with mathematics (5-11) (fee-paying: 3F2F)
• Art and Design (fee-paying: F198)
• Biology (fee-paying: 2KGW or salaried: 2KGD)
• Chemistry (fee-paying: 2KGZ or salaried: 2KGY)
• Computing (fee-paying: 2T3F or salaried: 2T3G)
• Design and technology (fee-paying: 2KG7)
• Drama (fee-paying: U042) *subject to university verification
• English (fee-paying: 2KG2)
• Geography (fee-paying: 2KH8)
• History (fee-paying: 2KH6)
• Languages - Arabic: (fee-paying: 2B66 or salaried: 2B64)
• Languages - French: (fee-paying: 2B66 or salaried: 2B64)
• Languages - Mandarin: (fee-paying: 2B66 or salaried: 2B64)
• Languages - Spanish: (fee-paying: 2B66 or salaried: 2B64)
• Languages - Urdu: (fee-paying: 2B66 or salaried: 2B64)
• Mathematics: (fee-paying: 2B67 or salaried: 2B68)
• Music (fee-paying: P450)
• Physics: (fee-paying: 2KH3 or salaried: 2KH2)
• PE (fee-paying: 2VHD)
• RE (fee-paying: 3F7V)

At the NIoT, we believe that readily available, empathetic support is vital to ensuring that our trainee teachers have a successful training year. The support package we offer includes:

• A multi-layered school support network, designed to help protect your physical and mental health and your wellbeing
• Personalised support with any specific areas of the programme that might be concerning you, such as behaviour management, workload or academic writing etc.
• An NIoT support network, including professional tutors, regional welfare officers, subject leads and peer discussion groups customised to your cohort
• Tailored support for neurodiverse trainees
• Dedicated support for trainees who are registered disabled.

Read more about the specific support we offer our trainees.

Full-time option:

• Five days per week (four days in school, one day in training).

Part-time:

• Four days per week, with the course finishing at the end of the autumn term of year two. All academic work would be completed during year one. Training day (Thursday) not negotiable.
• Three days per week, with the course finishing at Easter of year two. All academic work would be completed during year one. Training day (Thursday) not negotiable.

We are a national charity and will be expanding our reach over the coming years. Check the DfE Find website to see where we deliver ITT near you.

For QTS: Assessment is ongoing throughout the year, and includes observation of your practice and evidence of your success from mentors, tutors and yourself. Trainees are assessed against the NIoT ITT curriculum as the year progresses, and against the Teachers’ Standards at the end of the programme.

For PGCE: Assessment is by three master’s level assignments, which are both academically robust and grounded in your day-to-day practice.

The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) currently works in partnership with the University of Birmingham (UoB). The UoB is the validating university, which means it has responsibility for awarding the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) element of the NIoT’s programmes. The NIoT has applied to the Office for Students for registration and for New Degree Awarding Powers (NDAPs). If granted, we will be able to run all elements of its programmes and award PGCEs ourselves.

If the NIoT is awarded NDAPs prior to the start of academic year 2025/2026, then all students will be awarded their PGCE by the NIoT (rather than the UoB). If the NIoT is not awarded NDAPs by such date, NIoT’s programmes will either remain validated by the UoB or where NIoT and UoB have ended their validation arrangement, the NIoT may use another validating partner and your PGCE will be awarded by that validating partner.

If the programme you have applied for is affected by any change in the validating partner, we will contact you as soon as possible to inform you of the change. If we do not notify you of any such change, the programme will remain validated by UoB.

The impact of a change of validating partner from UoB to an alternative validating partner or to the NIoT itself will be the institution who awards your PGCE element of the programme. If you accept an offer for a programme for the academic year 2025/2026, this is done so on the basis that you are aware of the validation changes that might occur before your programme begins.

For Apprenticeship: You will complete an end point assessment at the end of your apprentice year.

NIoT's eligibility criteria:

• A bachelor’s degree, or equivalent with a 2:2 or above
• A GCSE grade 4/C or above in English and maths, or equivalent
• Primary candidates will also need a GCSE grade 4/C or above in a science, or equivalent
• Your degree or A-levels will need to be relevant to the subject/phase you wish to teach.

Find out more about eligibility criteria.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please contact us on ITT@niot.org.uk. You can also read more about eligibility on the Get Into Teaching website.

Do you have what it takes to be a good teacher? Read more here.

• (1TZ) - NIoT@Harris Initial Teacher Education - London, the South East and the East of England
• (7K9) - NIoT@Oasis Community Learning – South West and the West Midlands
• (1GV) - NIoT@Outwood Grange Academies Trust - North East, East Midlands and most of Yorkshire
• (2A6) - NIoT@Star Academies - North West & parts of West Yorkshire
• (2H7) - NIoT@Inspiration Trust 
• (1MN) - NIoT@Alban TSH 
• (21P) - NIoT@Pen Green Centre
• (21J) - NIoT@Kernow Initial Teacher Education
• (4W2) - NIoT@White Horse Federation
• (2HE) - NIoT@Windsor Academies Trust
• (24P) - NIoT@Ormiston Teacher Training
• (L06) - NIoT@North East SCITT
• (1YF) - NIoT@Trinity Institute of Education
• (1FE) - NIoT@David Ross Education Trust 
• (5J5) - NIoT@Learn AT
• (3L4) - NIoT@Liverpool
• (4L3) - NIoT@Laurus Institute

N.B. for Subject codes see 'Subjects & course codes' above

How to become a teacher with the NIoT

The following section is relevant for all applications to our fee-paying and salaried ITE courses. For PGTA applications, please visit the Post Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship page.

1. Complete the 'Register your interest' form to submit your details.
2. Attend a virtual information evening held by the NIoT, to learn more about training to teach with us. Visit Events at the NIoT
3. You’ll need to work out the answers to the following questions before applying. Are you applying for primary or secondary? Which subject will you be specialising in? Are there any bursaries available for your subject? If not, what funding route would be best for you?
4. Interview in the region you'd like to teach. If you are applying for a salaried position, you will attend a second interview with your placement school.
5. Accept your offer to secure your training place.
6. Start preparing for your career in teaching. Your offer will be subject to meeting certain conditions and safeguarding checks.

Find out more about how to apply here.

The NIoT offers three different routes into its ITT programme. Each of these has different funding associated with it:

Fee paying - no salary:

• From the start of the 2025/26 academic year, tuition fees for teacher training programmes with NIoT will be £9,535 for full-time study. Student finance and maintenance loans will be available.
• From the start of the 2025/26 academic year, the cost of training to teach part-time is £7,145 for year one and then another £7,145 pro rata according to how much of the second year is needed. Student finance and maintenance loans will be available.
• Tax-free bursaries and scholarships are available from the DfE, for some subjects. This changes annually.
• NIoT scholarships and support might be available for some subjects and phases (this varies from school to school).
• Tuition fees for UK/Home students may change in line with government policy and will be subject to the maximum fee limits set out in Regulations.

Apprenticeship route:

• If a school pays the apprenticeship levy, then the cost of the apprenticeship can be covered by the levy. Certain rules apply.
• Student finance and maintenance loans are not available. You are paid a salary on the unqualified teacher scale (UNQ1). Certain rules apply
• Cost to the trainee is £1,200 if they choose to do the PGCE academic award on top of QTS.

Salaried route:

• Your school will pay your fees of £9,535. Student finance and maintenance loans are not available. You are paid on the unqualified teacher scale (UNQ1). Certain rules apply.

Find out more funding, including scholarships and bursaries.