Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship with QTS and PGCE

​The University of Buckingham is one of the largest providers of the apprenticeship route to Qualified Teacher Status and optional PGCE. Our next cohorts will start September 2025 and then January 2026.

The course is free-of-charge because it is paid for by the apprenticeship levy. It is aimed at three groups:

1. Schools wanting to find good teachers should appoint unqualified potential teachers with a good degree, allow them to work for you for a year and do the PGTA course and then extend their contract if they are good.
2. Teaching assistants who have a degree, who work in schools and seem good potential teachers. This course will turn them into qualified teachers.
3. Teachers in schools who need QTS.

Please note: The Government is proposing to shorten the duration from 15 months to 12 months. We are expecting this to happen and will make any changes clear on our website when the details are confirmed.

The apprenticeship-levy funded course allows schools to take on a teacher for 15 months at limited cost to the school.

When asked, 98% of students (who graduated from their Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship with PGCE in June 2022) said they either would or already have recommended The University of Buckingham’s Teacher Apprenticeship to a colleague.

The achievement and retention rates published for 2023/24 were 95.7% and the pass rate at EPA is 100% well above national trends. The Teacher Apprenticeship provides an employer levy funded, salaried route for graduates to enter the teaching profession whilst also gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in 12 months, allowing apprentices to earn while they learn. 12 months direct training followed by up to 3 months for the End Point Assessment (EPA) resulting in a 15-month course.

We have been delivering teacher training to the next generation of teachers at The University of Buckingham for 20 years and have excellent levels of success. We offer two routes:

Route 1 – Teacher Apprenticeship with QTS + PGCE (level 7)

This is funded by the employer levy account for the Apprenticeship and QTS element, with an additional assessment charge for the PGCE qualification of £1,000. Please note the additional charge for the PGCE qualification must be funded by the employing school or trainee but cannot be paid through the apprenticeship levy fund. If you complete Route 1 successfully you will achieve:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
• Teacher Apprenticeship (Level 6)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE, Level 7)

Route 2 – Teacher Apprenticeship + QTS (level 6)

This is fully funded by the employer levy account for the Apprenticeship and QTS, there is no PGCE qualification gained through this route*. If you complete Route 2 successfully you will achieve:

• Qualified Teacher Status
• Teacher Apprenticeship (Level 6)

*Please note you cannot transfer from route 2 to route 1 once you have started the course.

Why choose a Teacher Apprenticeship? 

The tuition fees for the apprentice undertaking the apprenticeship with QTS are zero as they are funded through the employer and the apprenticeship levy.

“The support I have received from my University Tutor has been excellent – she is so understanding and has been very helpful in replying to all of the (many) questions that I’ve asked; nothing has been too much trouble.” Ruth Settle, apprentice teacher

“The course is structured fantastically well with lots of support from the University lecturers and tutors. My Tutor is available anytime for support and guidance. I was amazed at how dedicated the tutors are in their respective role, my tutor travelled up to Birmingham from Devon to carry out my termly review. I have been looking to qualify for 5 years but having a young family I could not take time away from work to do this, The University of Buckingham’s PGTA was the perfect solution, the on-the-job training has allowed me to qualify whilst maintaining an income.”  Suhail Tariq, apprentice teacher

“Leaders have developed an ambitious, coherent and challenging ITE curriculum. Based around five curriculum themes, the well-structured course is informed by the core content framework and underpinned by a wealth of pertinent academic research. Together, heads of cohort, subject leads and mentors ensure that trainees foster a deep subject knowledge and rich range of pedagogical skills. Trainees typically become very well-informed and highly reflective practitioners.” Ofsted, 2021

Why consider the additional PGCE aspect?

A PGCE qualification adds an academic layer to your qualification. It is evidence of your further engagement with research and the ability to synthesise and reflect on matters in education in extended academic writing. For many employers it is therefore an attractive qualification.

If you do choose to complete the PGCE alongside your Apprenticeship with QTS, you will need to submit three essays based on the advice you have been given, the lectures you have attended and your reading.

Successfully passing these assignments alongside your Apprenticeship with QTS will result in you being awarded the Postgraduate Certificate in Education from The University of Buckingham.

Information for the School 

Employers that pay into the apprenticeship levy (employers in the UK with an annual pay bill over £3 million) will be able to use up to £9,000 of funding from their apprenticeship service account to cover the cost of training and assessing the apprentice.

Employers that do not pay the levy, or who have insufficient funds in their digital account, can access funding to support the training and assessment of an apprentice. The government will pay 95% of the costs of training and assessment for the apprenticeship and the employer will pay the remaining 5% which equates to a maximum charge of £450 (this excludes the PGCE additional cost which must be funded by the employer or apprentice).

You must know whether your school is a levy or non-levy payer.

More detail:

The Apprenticeship Levy is an amount paid at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s annual wage bill and will be paid through Pay as you Earn (PAYE)

The school will be paying the Apprenticeship Levy each month if it:

• has an annual pay bill of more than £3 million
• is connected to any companies or charities for Employment Allowance purposes and has a combined annual pay bill of more than £3 million.

If the school does not fall into the above categories, it would be classed as a non-levy company. This does not mean it cannot apply for the funding. All non-levy payers can get 95% funded by the Apprenticeship Levy. As the employer your school will just pay 5% of the total cost of the Apprenticeship (currently £450 in total, not including the cost of the PGCE), for a qualification that costs significantly more.

Employers that have insufficient funds in their digital account can also access the levy funding in the same way. The government will still pay 95% of the costs of training and assessment for the apprenticeship and the employer will pay the remaining 5% which equates to a maximum charge of £450 (this excludes the PGCE additional cost). In every case the school will need to apply/create a digital account which can be done via the UK Gov website. This will no doubt be done by a business manager within your school so please ensure this is done before applying.

Before setting up your apprenticeship service account the school will need:

• an email address
• the Government Gateway login for your organisation (or you can use the accounts office reference number and employer PAYE scheme reference number if your annual pay bill is less than £3 million)
• authority to add PAYE schemes to the account
• authority to accept the employer agreement on behalf of your organisation

It requires information and sign-off from various departments within the school, such as finance and HR, so ensure these departments are open. This is one reason for NOT applying at the start of the summer holidays.

A trainee reference from the school will be required at the outset so an interview can be arranged.

Read the Postgraduate Teachers Apprenticeship – Employers’ guide

The Teacher Apprenticeship: how it works 

• The Teacher Apprenticeship programme is available for any unqualified primary and secondary school teachers in England.
• You must be employed full-time (minimum of 30 hours) in a school while you learn on the job. In some cases, this may be a school you are already working at, or have an existing relationship with.
• If you are employed in a state school you will be paid a minimum of the unqualified 1 teacher salary pay scale for your region.
• If you are currently working as an unqualified teacher or teaching assistant, it offers new opportunities for career progression, plus higher earning capacity, recognition, and status.
• You will do some classroom teaching and receive off-the-job training as you work towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Apprentices split their time between school and university study. You will receive practical, school-led training alongside experienced staff, and spend at least 20% of your time off-timetable to learn the pedagogy of teaching.

How is the Apprenticeship delivered?

• Regular support from your workplace Mentor to support your success.
• 20% off-the-job training time ​attending online talks, reading, writing about your progress, observing other people teaching.
• Experienced University Tutors will deliver high-quality training to support your teaching pedagogy throughout the Apprenticeship.

The majority of this course is delivered remotely, via online training afternoons. These occur at 13:30-16:30 each Thursday.

There is one in-person day held on campus at the start of the course. This onboarding day should be diarised as it is a compulsory element of the course.

Primary and PE: Thursday 28 August 2025
Secondary and Prep (Middle): Friday 29 August 2025

These feed into 12 months of direct training, QTS is awarded and the End Point Assessment is triggered. Upon successful completion of the End Point Assessment, the Teacher Apprenticeship is achieved.

Secondary Subject Specialisms

Different school subjects demand different teaching methods and resources, so part of the course will be taught by a subject specialist. We can teach all school subjects including Art, Music, Design Technology, Food Technology, Business Studies & Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Computing, English, Drama, Classics, Modern Languages, Arabic, Geography, History, Politics, Citizenship and PSHE, Religious Studies, Psychology, PE and Mandarin.

What support will I receive?

During this 15-month school-based course apprentices will work under the guidance of a mentor in their school and a University of Buckingham tutor. Apprentices will have weekly meetings in school to review their progress and to set targets, termly visits from their University of Buckingham tutor to assess progress and guide their development, as well as regular meetings and reviews via an online platform.

The Apprenticeship includes 20% ‘off-the-job’ training which is delivered in a blended form of online and face-to-face meetings and seminars which are supplemented by a weekly programme on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment. Apprentices will be assessed against the Teachers’ Standards by their mentor and tutor.

Successful completion of the Apprenticeship training leads to the recommendation of QTS (Qualified Teacher Status).

Achievement of QTS is a mandatory requirement for apprentices to proceed through the gateway to the End Point Assessment which completes the Apprenticeship. This is comprised of a lesson observation and professional discussion conducted by an external End Point Assessment Organisation to quality assure the training and development of the apprentice. This takes place within three months of reaching the gateway (successfully completing the practical period, being recommended for QTS and meeting all other eligibility criteria) as determined by the employer.