The University of Reading is delighted to announce that it is offering a selection of new training courses for British Armed Forces personnel wishing to embark on a teaching career once they have left the forces.
Reading is part of a consortium of six universities, led by the University of Brighton, who will offer the Government’s new Troops to Teachers Programme. The programme aims to support a smooth transition into the civilian workforce for those Service members who are exiting their military careers and have the potential to become outstanding teachers. The consortium will enable former Service personnel to train to teach by accessing newly created Initial Teacher Training (ITT) routes.
Reading is working with a range of outstanding primary and secondary schools in the region to support the development and delivery of the programme. The programme will have a school-centred approach which will immerse trainees in high quality teaching environments, combined with specialist expertise and evidence-based research from one of the leading teacher training providers in the country. Details of our current partnership schools can be found here.
Professor Andy Goodwyn, Head of the University of Reading’s Institute of Education, said: “We are extremely pleased to be involved in this important new scheme which intends to help members of our armed forces retrain to become exceptional teachers. The programme will only select the very best candidates who show a genuine aptitude for, and commitment to, teaching. Our geographical location, close to many British Armed Forces establishments, is a mutual advantage for all involved and shows that as a major international university we can still demonstrate real commitment to the region and its community.”
The Troops to Teachers programme, funded by the Department for Education, aims to recruit the best Service leavers into teaching, including those with the highest qualifications, qualities and experiences, who have the potential to become outstanding teachers. It has been designed and developed with a group of outstanding schools and ITT providers in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and the Career Transition Partnership. Those Service personnel who are in the two years before discharge or in the two years post discharge from the Armed Forces are eligible to apply.
The consortium is directly involved in two programmes:
Pathway 1 is a School Direct salaried / School Direct training programme resulting in QTS. Graduate Service Leavers interested in undertaking teacher training can apply for a one year, School Direct salaried, School Direct training, Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) programme.
- The School Direct salaried route into teaching is available to high-quality graduates with at least three years’ work experience. Trainees are employed as an unqualified teacher by the school. Previous experience in the Armed Forces will count towards meeting the School Direct eligibility criteria
- The School Direct training route into teaching is open to all high-quality graduates and funded by tuition fees paid by the trainee, who may receive a bursary from the Department for Education. PGCE and SCITT programmes are fee-paying routes in partnership with universities and also offer bursaries for eligible graduates. For more information, visit the Department for Education site
Pathway 2 is a two-year non-graduate honours programme incorporating QTS
- Trainees will enter this already holding some HE credit
- Cohort 1 will start in January 2014 and cohort 2 will start in Jul/Sept 2014
- This programme will be based around the University of Brighton’s existing 2 Year BA(Hons) Secondary Education with QTS programme, although it is being redeveloped to include an employment-based mode of study through it, to add additional secondary subject routes, and to develop a primary age phase programme
For details about how to apply for this pathway, go to Troops for Teachers
TROOPS TO TEACHERS ENQUIRIES
For further information please visit:
https://troopstoteachers.ctp.org.uk/
Graduate Service Leavers
Contact:
University of Reading. Email: schooldirect@reading.ac.uk or call: 0118 378 2624
For general enquires please contact the DfE Teaching Line 0800 389 2500 or visit: