Teacher Training

Learn with England’s largest professional development provider
Ambition Institute is England’s largest professional development provider for teachers and school leaders. In 2023/24 1 in 9 teachers and leaders in state-funded schools developed professionally with us.

Improve children’s lives
Our mission as a charity is to help young people reach their full potential, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Train in school
You’ll do most of your training in one school, giving you immediate opportunities to practise the theory you’ve learnt in a classroom and build relationships with teachers, staff, and the wider school community. By the end of your training, you’ll have the confidence to teach in a classroom independently, you’ll also stand a great chance of securing a permanent role.

Receive mentor and wellbeing support
Get weekly one-to-one guidance from a dedicated mentor. Your mentoring sessions will also include protected time to discuss your wellbeing.

Get a placement to suit you
Whether it be the city where you studied or the town you grew up in, through our national network of 350+ partner schools across England you can train in a location that suits you.

Become an expert in a subject you're passionate about
At least 50% of your weekly modules will focus on your chosen secondary subject. this means, through our programme, you'll be given the foundation skills and knowledge to become an expert teacher in your chosen subject. For context, typically other in-school training programmes offer a 30% subject focus.

Learn flexibly
Both full and part-time training routes are available.

Benefit from blended learning
We blend the high-quality academic training you’d expect to get from a university with immersive, classroom learning. You’ll benefit from face-to-face training sessions and theoretical study on our online learning portal.

"My confidence has definitely grown a lot in the classroom. I was really worried about if I would be a good teacher. Now I know I can do it. I can teach whole lessons, I can build great relationships. It's been amazing for my confidence to know I can do all these things."
- Esme, university graduate and trainee teacher.

“I have wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time and I’m very happy that I made the decision to change career. I’m loving being a trainee teacher and, although the course can be intense, I’m glad I chose the school based route as I’m learning so much every week.”
- Michelle, career changer and trainee teacher.

"Mentors can provide praise, feedback and honesty, all of which is borne from a place of understanding. We’re all practising teachers, so we know what trainees are experiencing."
- Lyn, trainee teacher mentor.

Marie Hamer is the Executive Director at Ambition Institute. She is a former school leader and teacher, and in the past has held roles as Head of Ark Teacher Training, an Outstanding SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training), and was the National English subject lead at Teach First. She has worked closely with the Department for Education as an Expert Advisor for the development of the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and was a member of the Expert Working Group developing the International Qualified Teacher Status Core Content Framework.

Dr Neil Gilbride is an Associate Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute contributing to the curriculum for our Teacher Training programme. Over the past 17 years, Neil has gained experience within schools and Higher Education around children's learning, special educational needs, teacher development and school leadership. Neil's research explores the psychology of decision making, complexity theory and leadership development.

Melissa Thomlinson is a Dean in our Learning Design team overseeing the golden thread of curriculum from Teacher Training through the Early Career Teacher programme. She was a teacher and national subject leader for a multi-academy trust before joining a founding team which set up a SCITT. She has consulted on national framework design for the Department for Education.

Genevieve Field is the Director of Ambition's Teacher Training programme. She is a former teacher and senior leader who was part of the founding team and later led Initial Teacher Training for Ark Schools. Since becoming a Director at Ambition in 2018, she led a national DfE-funded school improvement contract, Early Careers Framework (ECF) pilot for the Education Endowment Fund and led the early roll-out and post-covid expansion of the DfE funded ECF programme across England. She is a long-term school governor and a trustee for multiple trusts in England.

Bursaries are tax-free incentives paid by the Department for Education, which you would not need to pay back and are available for certain subjects.

Scholarships are tax-free payments provided by independent institutions through the government and are available for certain subjects. Like bursaries, you would not need to pay your scholarship back.

You cannot receive both a teaching bursary and a scholarship. However, you can get a bursary or scholarship, as well as any tuition fee loan and maintenance loan.

Additionally, you cannot receive a bursary, scholarship or student loan if you’re on a salaried teacher training placement.

• £29,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 in biology, geography and languages
• £10,000 in art and design
• £5,000 in English

• £31,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £28,000 in French, German and Spanish (no other languages)

Check your eligibility for bursaries and scholarships here. You must be eligible for student finance to receive a bursary or scholarship. The only exception to this is if you are training to teach physics or languages.

Non-UK citizens bursaries and scholarships
Most non-UK citizens will not be eligible for financial support from the UK government. However, if you are applying to train to teach languages or physics you may be entitled to a bursary up to the value of £29,000 or a scholarship worth up to £31,000 for physics or £28,000 for French, German and Spanish. You cannot receive both a bursary and a scholarship.

If you are not eligible for financial support, you will need to cover the cost of your tuition fees and living costs for the duration of the training programme.

Non-UK citizens and salaried placements
The tuition fee can be paid in three instalments across the school terms.

• Full-time trainees: £9,535
  Broken into 3 payments (October: 25%, February: 25%, May: 50%)
• Part-time trainees: £7,145 per year
  Broken into 6 payments (Year 1 – October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%, Year 2 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%)

Payments will be due at the end of the month in October, February, and May.

• East London
• North London
• South London
• West London

• Bedfordshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Norfolk
• Suffolk

• Cumberland
• Greater Manchester
• Lancashire
• Merseyside

• County Durham
• Cumbria
• Tyne and Wear

• Middlesbrough
• Redcar and Cleveland
• West Yorkshire

• Derbyshire
• Leicestershire
• Nottinghamshire

• Staffordshire
• Shropshire
• Warwickshire
• Wolverhampton

• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Kent
• Oxfordshire
• Surrey
• Sussex

• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• Wiltshire

We accept international qualifications that are equivalent to our eligibility criteria above. You will need to provide an ENIC statement of comparability to progress with your application, this costs £49.50 + VAT. It takes 15 working days to complete your order from the date ENIC receives your qualification documents and payment. For more information, and to apply for your ENIC statement, please visit UK ENIC.

Please also note you must have a visa with permission to work in the UK full-time by the start and for the duration of the training programme. Unfortunately, Ambition Institute cannot sponsor your visa. You can find out more about which visa to apply for by visiting Get Into Teaching.

Training is open to anyone who might have an interest in becoming a teacher, has a degree or equivalent and has permission to work in the UK before their training begins. You might be:

• A recent graduate looking for the first step in your career.
• A teaching assistant looking to transition into teaching your own class.
• Looking for a completely new career path.

We welcome candidates of all ages, from all backgrounds, and with all types of experience. To be eligible, you will need meet our eligibility criteria listed.

Application
Visit our partner map tool and use the filters provided to choose your preferred school partner in the region suited to you. You will then be able to register with this partner and complete Ambition's short application form - this will take you approximately 15 minutes to complete

Interview
Our friendly team at Ambition will assess your application and if you are eligible, will pass your application to your preferred school partner. You will then be invited to attend an interview by this partner, they will be in touch with you to arrange this. Your invite will include:

• Details about the structure of the interview, including the questions which will be asked so you are able to see these beforehand.
• Tips to help you prepare.
• Information you'll need to bring to the interview.

You will also be asked to complete some short online multiple-choice tests as part of the assessment stage, no revision or preparation is required for this. Additionally, you will need to share your proof of eligibility as part of this stage.

Offer
If you are successful at the interview, you will be provided with a conditional offer. The conditions of the offer are dependent on you completing the relevant pre-programme checks, such as checking degree certificate gradings and DBS check.

If you're not quite ready to apply but want to find out more about this programme, you can register your interest here.

If you still have a question you can contact our Teacher Training Admissions Team via email at teachertraining@ambition.org.uk or call us on 020 3846 5828.

Please note emails and phone calls can only be answered Monday-Friday, 9-5pm.

Unlike university-based teacher training programmes, where you have a number of different placements, our programme allows you to do most of your training in one school. The big benefit of this is that you can put your academic learning into practice in a classroom environment where you feel familiar and comfortable.

You’ll learn through a combination of self-guided learning, face-to-face and online sessions with other trainees. In-school activities will include classroom teaching practice, peer support and one-to-one guidance from your mentor. The practical teaching experience you gain will mean you finish the training confident to teach in a classroom.

You will also have a dedicated mentor – an experienced teacher – throughout your training who works alongside you in your school to offer guidance and support.

To be eligible, you will need:

• An undergraduate bachelor's degree with honours, generally 2:2 or above, or equivalent.
• A GCSE grade 4/C or above in English and maths, or equivalent.
• Primary school trainees will need a GCSE grade of 4/C or above in science, or equivalent.

This is a one-year full-time postgraduate programme, alternatively, some of our partners are offering part-time placements. A part-time option is available over two years, but not all partner schools offer this option. Use our partner tool to see which of our partners are offering part-time options.

You need to let us know about your previous work history for two reasons:

1) For us to review your previous employment experience and ask for further information or details where needed.

2) To confirm any gaps in employment to ensure we’re compliant with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023.

If you haven’t already done so, complete your work history by inputting details of each job you’ve held since the age of 18, this should include both part-time and full-time work.

Once you complete this, you will need to tick the box to confirm the information is correct and save. If you don’t have any previous work history you won’t need to enter any information, but you will still need to tick the box to confirm this.

Completing your work history is compulsory, you can also upload your CV to the file section.

Where do I add my work history? Go to My Teacher Training, in the ‘Pre-programme checks’ section, available from the homepage.

We accept international qualifications that are equivalent to our below eligibility criteria:

• An undergraduate bachelor's degree with honours, generally 2:2 or above.
• A GSCE grade 4/C or above in English and maths.
• Primary school trainees will need a GSCE grade of 4/C or above in science.

Please note some of our partners will want you to have a degree and/or A Level related to the subject you wish to teach.

You will also need to provide an ENIC statement of comparability to progress with your application. For more information, and to apply for your ENIC statement, please visit UK ENIC or call Get Into Teaching at +44 800 389 2500 to get a free verbal assessment.

Please also note you must have permission to work in the UK full-time by the start and for the duration of the training programme. Unfortunately, Ambition Institute cannot sponsor your visa.

By the start of the training, international candidates must have a visa with permission to work in the UK full-time for the duration of the programme. You can find out more about which visa to apply for by visiting Get Into Teaching.

You will be based in one core school for most of your training. The first stage of applying is via our partner tool, which will ask you:

• To choose where you want to train.
• Whether you want to be in a primary or secondary school.
• What subject you want to specialise in (for secondary) or phase (for primary).
• Whether you want to train full-time or part-time.

Based on your answers to the above we will match you to a school for you to then complete your application.

Although most of your training will be in one school, you will also complete the following placements. Your location preferences will be taken into account for these.

• A 2-3 week placement in another school during the final term.
• 5-10 days in an alternative environment to your main school. For example, with a secondary, primary, or special educational needs and disability (SEND) school.

It’s up to you! You can choose to teach in a primary or secondary school. If you’re hoping to teach in a secondary school, the pupils will be aged between 11 and 16. If you’re teaching in a primary school, the pupils will be aged between 4 and 11 you will need to be able to teach a wider range of subjects.

In a secondary school, you will have the opportunity to select your preferred subject. Some core secondary subjects are more popular than others, so it’s best to apply early.

Yes, you will be training with other people on our programme. From the very beginning of the programme, you will become part of a regional network, working with others either in your school or in your local network, and you will become part of a national cohort of people training with Ambition. You will have regular opportunities to come together with other trainees to learn, share your experiences, and work collaboratively.

You’ll achieve qualified teacher status (QTS), a nationally recognised teaching qualification. When you’ve successfully completed the programme, you will also receive a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). This is an internationally recognised qualification, opening up opportunities for you to teach abroad. The PGCE is worth 60 credits towards a master’s degree if you want to go on to further study.

The DfE have confirmed that there will be salaried teacher training places for Sep 25/26 but the availability of these places will be dependent on our partners.

Unless your partner has specified otherwise, you will need to fund the tuition fee. Our programme costs £9,535 for full-time study and £7,145 per year for part-time study.

Full-time trainees: £9,535
Payments are broken into three instalments across terms
(October: 25%, February: 25%, May: 50%)

Part-time trainees: £7,145 per year
Payments are broken into three instalments across terms
(Year 1 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%, Year 2 October: 12.5%, February: 12.5%, May: 25%)
For both programme lengths, payments will be due at the end of the month in October, February, and May.

If you decide to take a salaried route, you are employed as you train and would not be eligible for a bursary or student finance.

Placement schools often go on to hire their teacher trainees. You will have built up relationships with your school's network so should have a few opportunities in your area. There’s a lot of demand for teachers in England so you should soon be able to secure your first teaching job soon after your training.

Once you have completed our Teacher Training programme, you will be qualified to teach straight away. The minimum starting salary for a teacher in the UK is £31,650 or more if you are living in London.

Typically, after five years of teaching your salary could increase to £43,607 or more in London.

The DfE requires all applicants to have an occupational health assessment to ensure they are physically and mentally fit to teach. This starts with a questionnaire about your health, we will be contacting all successful applicants in the summer to collate the information we need for this.

Once you have registered with the partner of your choice, you'll need to complete and submit your application via the My Teacher Training platform.

If you are struggling to log in into the platform please contact our Teacher Training Admissions Team via email at teachertraining@ambition.org.uk or call us on 020 3846 5828.

Once you complete your teacher training, you’ll be known as an early career teacher (ECT) for the next two years of teaching. During these two years, you’ll do a mandatory ECT two-year induction programme which will usually be provided by your school or trust. This will allow you to advance your teaching skills using the same concepts and terminology that you learned through your teacher training year.

Ambition Institute is a Department for Education (DfE) approved provider of this induction programme. The benefit of doing your ECT with us is that the repetition of concepts learnt during your teacher training is minimised, providing you with a consistent and stable foundation for you to continue your progression.

If you're already working in a school and meet our eligibility criteria to join this programme then we would suggest the following steps:

Let your line manager know you're keen to progress your career but want to stay in your current school.

Get in touch with us via teachertraining@ambition.org.uk and tell us:

• The name and region of your school.
• Contact information of the headteacher.
• And the subject/phase you would like to teach.

We'd be happy to approach your school and connect them with your local ITT partner to see if we can make this work for you.

Getting some school experience prior to completing your application can allow you to find out more about a career as a teacher. This extra step will also look great on your application.

To apply for school experience you'll need:

• The right to work in the UK.
• A degree (or to be studying for one).
• To be aged 18 or over.

Click here to search for school experience days near you.