Fast-track plan to ease shortfall in teacher numbers

Apprenticeships to be slashed to get teachers into classrooms

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The length of teaching apprenticeships will be cut to get more new teachers into the classroom sooner.

From August, the duration of postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA) courses will be reduced to nine months, down from 12 months, the Department for Education (DfE) announced.

The move comes after Labour pledged during the election campaign to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers over the course of its five-year parliamentary term.

More than 1,400 people trained to teach via the apprenticeship route this year, but around 2,800 were unable to secure a place last year due to the high demand for places, the DfE said.

It added that courses will still offer the same high-quality content but at a reduced length with trainees gaining qualified teacher status (QTS) after they have completed the programme.

The PGTA courses currently run from September to September, which means trainees typically have to wait months before starting their careers.