School Direct (salaried) funding manual 2020 to 2021 academic year

Question 1

What is School Direct (salaried) funding?

Accepted Answer

Grant funding is available as a contribution to the training and salary costs for each qualifying trainee on School Direct (salaried) courses. Payments are made in 11 instalments, based on the trainee data that you submit.

As your trainees are employed while they train, you’re expected to meet the full costs of their training and salary.

We provide grant funding as a contribution to these costs.

The funding for each trainee varies depending on:

the subject of the trainee’s ITT course
the location of the school that employs the trainee

Not all subjects are eligible for funding. More details are in the School Direct (salaried) grant funding rates section.

As School Direct (salaried) trainees are employed while training, they:

are not eligible for a training bursary or student finance
cannot be charged a fee for the award of qualified teacher status (QTS)

You will need to inform your trainees if they need to pay any additional fees. For example, an academic qualification such as post graduate certificate in education (PGCE).

Teaching duties

You should decide before the start of your trainee’s course the teaching duties they are required to perform. The ITT criteria specify that trainees on employment-based courses should not perform more than 90% of a full-time teacher’s duties.

This limit applies to all School Direct (salaried) courses.

Question 2

Who can offer School Direct (salaried) places

Accepted Answer

Lead school

The lead school is the agreed point of contact for training providers, placements and partner schools. They hold permission to recruit to ITT courses on behalf of the School Direct partnership.

The lead school is responsible for the funding arrangements for the partnership and is accountable for grant funding received, its distribution and assurance.

A lead school must be either:

an academy
a free school
a city technology college
a local authority (LA) maintained school
an independent school designated as a teaching school
a multi-academy trust (only one school within a multi-academy trust may act as a proxy lead school)
a pupil referral unit (PRU)
a sixth-form college
a maintained special school

An independent school can only act as a lead school if it is also a designated teaching school. Where this is the case, the trainees recruited should benefit from a partnership that includes maintained schools, academies or free schools. Independent schools cannot receive grant funding for the place unless they are a designated teaching school.

Partner schools

A partner school is any school working with a lead school to plan or deliver ITT. A partner school involved in ITT may employ the trainee, if it is state-funded, and may receive funding from the lead school. State-funded partner schools may be the principal training school for any School Direct trainee.

Further information on School Direct partners is available in Annex A: types of organisation involved in School Direct.

Ofsted inspections

A school must be rated grade 1 (outstanding) or grade 2 (good) by Ofsted to bid for places as a lead school.

If a lead school falls below this grade in a new Ofsted inspection during the year, but is not placed into special measures, then we’ll permit them to continue as a lead school until it is practical to switch the lead school status to another in the partnership.

If Ofsted places the lead school into special measures during the year, the ITT places must immediately be transferred to another lead school and all funding will be suspended until this action is completed.

Schools in special measures cannot recruit School Direct (salaried) trainees. If this happens after recruitment, but before training starts, the trainee will need to be transferred to another school in the partnership.

Employing schools can retain trainees if they’re placed in special measures after the trainee has started employment and training, if the lead school and ITT provider agree that the continued employment at the school will not negatively affect the trainee or the quality of their training.

The lead school and ITT provider must also be willing to offer any necessary support to the trainee and placement school during both the training period and any subsequent employment as a newly qualified teacher (NQT) in the school (should it remain in special measures). If the lead school or ITT provider cannot offer such assurance and support, then an alternative school within the partnership must employ the trainee.

Schools and providers should contact itt.allocations@education.gov.uk to arrange the transfer.

Question 3

Trainee eligibility criteria

Accepted Answer

The lead school must ensure that each funded trainee:

meets the ITT criteria for all ITT programmes
is eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher
does not hold or is eligible to receive QTS

For trainees who begin courses with evidence of their degree and/or GCSE standard equivalence pending, School Direct (salaried) funding will initially be paid to lead schools.

Funding eligibility for these trainees can only be confirmed, and funding forwarded to the relevant organisations, once evidence of degree and/or GCSE standard equivalence is available. This evidence must be provided by 30 November 2020, otherwise you must remove the trainee from the course and record them as a withdrawal.

Your School Direct (salaried) funding will be recovered in full in respect of trainees who started courses but left on or before 30 November because they were unable to provide this evidence. We will use the 2020 to 2021 assurance exercise to ensure that funding has not been provided for those trainees.

Eligibility for QTS

Under current reciprocal arrangements, most qualified teachers from countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland are able to receive QTS following application to us.

Teachers can also apply to us for QTS if they qualified in:

Australia
Canada
New Zealand
the USA

Teachers who are successful in their application to receive QTS will not qualify for funding. Those that are unsuccessful in their application to receive QTS may be eligible.

Potential trainees who may already be eligible to receive QTS under the conditions described above should email qts.enquiries@education.gov.uk or visit Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for more information.

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS)

Individuals are recognised as qualified teachers and are not eligible for funding if they:

hold QTLS status
are members of the Society for Education and Training (SET), formerly the Education and Training Foundation (ETF)

They must continue to maintain their registration with the SET for this recognition to be valid.

Changing ITT provider, School Direct partnerships or School Direct route

Ordinarily, we’ll not permit a lead school to change its partner ITT provider once it has registered a course. After a partnership agreement is drawn up and places are advertised to applicants, the lead school should make all reasonable efforts to deliver the course as described. We will only consider a request from a lead school to change their partner ITT provider in exceptional circumstances.

A lead school must not transfer a trainee from one partnership or ITT route to another without our prior agreement.

For further information about changing any aspect of courses that have been agreed with us please email ITT.allocations@education.gov.uk. All changes must be confirmed by us before a place is offered to any applicant.

Failure to fully comply with the criteria and requirements may result in:

the withdrawal of funding to the lead schools
non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation

Question 4

Grant funding rates

Accepted Answer

Grant funding will be paid to lead schools for each trainee depending on the:

subject of their ITT course
location of the school in which they are employed, not the location of the lead school

Example If the lead school is in an inner London area, but the employing school is in a national area, funding will be paid at the national rate.

The training and salary grant rates that will be paid to the lead school for each trainee can be found below.

Funding will only be provided for trainees on courses in the identified subjects.

Trainees in high priority subjects

The following funding is available for:

chemistry
classics
computing
mathematics
languages
physics

Funding per trainee (by location)	Amount
National (excluding the London area)	£19,000
Inner London area	£23,900
Outer London area	£22,600
Fringe area	£20,200

Trainees in other priority subjects

The following funding is available for:

biology
design and technology
English
geography
history
music
religious education

Funding per trainee (by location)	Amount
National (excluding the London area)	£14,000
Inner London area	£17,600
Outer London area	£16,600
Fringe area	£14,900

Primary trainees

The following funding is available for non-specialist primary trainees.

Funding per trainee (by location)	Amount
National (excluding the London area)	£9,000
Inner London area	£11,400
Outer London area	£10,800
Fringe area	£9,600

Primary with mathematics

The following funding is available for primary with mathematics trainees.

Funding per trainee (by location)	Amount
National (excluding the London area)	£14,000
Inner London Area	£17,600
Outer London Area	£16,600
Fringe Area	£14,900

This higher primary with mathematics funding rate is only available for eligible trainees with at least a B in mathematics A Level or equivalent. The lower non-specialist rate is payable if the trainee does not have this grade or qualification.

It’s your responsibility to determine A level equivalency. We will not determine the equivalency of other qualifications to A levels in individual cases.

You must keep an audit trail of how you assess equivalency. In determining equivalency you may:

use internal colleagues, such as those in the relevant subject department
consult external organisations, such as the awarding body of the equivalent qualification
conduct a review of the course content or transcripts of the other qualification

We reserve the right to request this information for assurance purposes and to ensure the robustness of your processes.

Question 5

Subjects that attract grant funding

Accepted Answer

Grant funding is only available for trainees working towards QTS in:

biology
chemistry
classics
computing
design and technology
English
geography
history
modern foreign languages (MFL)
mathematics
music
physics
physics with mathematics
primary
primary with mathematics
religious education

Maths and Physics Chairs

The Maths and Physics Chairs programme provides the opportunity for postdoctoral researchers to train and teach in state-funded schools in England.

The programme was originally limited to those only wishing to teach maths and physics. However, the programme is now open to participants in all other Ebacc subjects.

In their first year, participants on the programme train as teachers in their host school on either a School Direct (salaried) course or School Direct (fee-funded) course.

Participants opting for the School Direct (salaried) course on the Maths and Physics Chairs programme are treated as standard School Direct (salaried) places, with the same requirements for data reporting and the funding levels as identified in this document. Additional costs associated with the programme, such as incentive contributions for those training in mathematics or physics, are funded separately.

Flexible School Direct (salaried)

Lead schools delivering part-time or accelerated courses will receive the same School Direct (salaried) grant funding for each trainee as an equivalent full-time trainee. This will be paid over the course of the same monthly instalment schedule as any other School Direct (salaried) trainee.

It’s the responsibility of the lead school to decide:

the payment profile for the trainee’s salary
how the grant will be managed as a contribution towards this

Any funding that is owed to us will be calculated in accordance with the assurance and audit section.

Question 6

Grant funding agreements (GFA)

Accepted Answer

All lead schools with permission to recruit to funded School Direct (salaried) courses must enter into a GFA with us. Grant funding will only be paid once a GFA is in place.

The first payment will be made in September 2020. To receive this, all lead schools must have signed and returned their GFA by 18 August 2020. If a GFA is delayed, grant funding payments will be made in the following month.

If a lead school already has a GFA in place from a previous academic year we will ask them to review any variations to the original agreement. The lead school must confirm that they accept any variations in order for funding to continue.

Lead schools will be sent a grant offer letter (GOL) which includes the terms and conditions of the grant. They must complete all the highlighted sections in the GOL and email this document to GFA.ittfunding@education.gov.uk.

After the GOL has been returned, fully completed and signed by the lead school’s accounting officer, we will arrange for this to be countersigned by our responsible officer and returned to the lead school. This countersigned document forms the GFA and must be retained by the lead school.

We will write to lead schools to advise them when the GOL, which includes the GFA and terms and conditions, is available.

Question 7

Conditions of grant

Accepted Answer

Grant funding must be used to support the specific trainee only. Funding must not be shared across funded and non-funded places.

Schools and providers must inform trainees if they need to pay additional fees, for example, an academic qualification such as a post graduate certificate in education (PGCE).

For the period of their training all trainees must be employed by a school as an unqualified teacher and paid in line with their employing school’s pay policy.

Maintained schools and local authorities must abide by school teachers’ pay and conditions, which states that an unqualified teacher must be paid such salary within the minimum and maximum of the unqualified teacher pay range.

Pay rates must be clearly advertised to the trainee beforehand.

Trainees who are on a full-time course should be employed full-time.

Trainees are typically employed for up to 12 months starting from September. Any variation in the precise duration of training or employment will not affect the funding contribution attached to the place.

Trainees ineligible for grant funding

If you choose to recruit trainees who are on courses in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding, they must:

be eligible to work in England as an unqualified teacher
meet requirements identified in the ITT criteria

These trainees will need to be registered with either the:

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) by universities
Database of Trainee Teachers and Providers (DTTP) by SCITT providers

In subjects where recruitment is unlimited, as set out in the allocations methodology, lead schools are not restricted in the number of trainees that they can recruit. For subjects in this category that attract no grant funding, lead schools must be aware of the financial implications of recruitment.

We cannot be held responsible for any costs associated with recruiting trainees in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding.

Question 8

Payment of School Direct (salaried) funding

Accepted Answer

Who we pay

The grant will be paid directly to the lead school if you’re an:

academy
multi-academy trust (MAT)
free school

If a lead school is a local authority maintained school the grant will be paid to the relevant local authority.

This includes:

voluntary-aided
voluntary-controlled
foundation schools
sixth-form colleges that receive their funding from the local authority

Lead schools in this category will need to make sure that suitable agreements are in place with their local authority so that funding is transferred appropriately.

Lead schools should identify funding arrangements and mechanisms to recover unused funds in written agreements with their partner schools and ITT providers.

Grant funding will be paid by the ESFA on our behalf.

When will payments be made

Payments will be made in 11 monthly instalments from September to July as set out in Annex D: funding cycle.

Payments will be made within the first 8 working days of each month and are subject to:

us receiving your grant funding documentation
trainee numbers being established from available data

The first payment of the 2020 to 2021 academic year will be made in September 2020. If you receive your first payment after September 2020, it will be adjusted to include payments backdated to September.

The final payment will be made in July 2021.

How much will the payment be

We’ll write to lead schools:

in June 2020 to provide further information and GFA documentation
prior to first monthly payment to confirm the amounts for the first 3 months of the academic year

These payments will be calculated using trainee recruitment data available at that time. This funding may be at a preliminary rate.

Following receipt of verified trainee data from the ITT provider in the October ITT census, we’ll adjust the monthly payment amounts from December 2020 onwards.

We’ll issue any arrears that may be due or recover funding as appropriate within this adjustment. If the relevant data is supplied, this adjustment may also reflect any changes required to grant funding amounts based on the location of the trainee’s employing or main placement school.

It’s important that ITT providers have all the relevant information for trainees to complete the October ITT census.

We strongly encourage all lead schools to engage with their partner ITT provider to avoid any delay or suspension of payment.

We’ll not provide any additional funding for the administration of School Direct (salaried) courses.

Data requirements and reporting

Schools and ITT providers are required to share all data on School Direct (salaried) with us.

Including data on:

applications
recruitment
employment outcomes

School Direct (salaried) grant funding is calculated on the basis of data submitted by ITT providers through HESA and the DTTP.

It’s important that the data is:

accurate
complete
submitted on time

Failure to meet these conditions is likely to result in the suspension of funding.

Data requirements from schools

Once a candidate has been recruited, lead schools are required provide their ITT partner with accurate placement and employing school data. Lead schools must inform providers promptly of any changes such as:

withdrawals
deferrals

Lead schools are required to provide trainee data to us as part of their GFA Annex G audit and assurance return. Further details about the assurance process can be found in Assurance and audit.

Data requirements from ITT providers

Failure to comply with requests for data in an accurate or timely manner may lead to the withdrawal of accreditation for the ITT provider. Full details of the process are included in the DTTP data guidance for HEIs and non-HEIs available through the DTTP.

Guidance will be updated throughout the academic year.

Question 9

Withdrawals and deferrals

Accepted Answer

Withdrawals

Lead schools will receive funding for any trainee who starts and withdraws from a funded School Direct (salaried) course up until the end of the month in which they withdraw.

Funding will either:

cease in-year from the following month if the ITT provider has updated the trainee data on the DTTP
as part of a funding reconciliation exercise following the end of the academic year

ITT providers are required to record all trainee withdrawals in the exit information section of the training record on the DTTP in the same month that the trainee withdraws.

Reconciliation will be determined on a pro rata basis. We’ll consider the trainee’s actual withdrawal date in relation to the intended completion date.

We will not reimburse lead schools for any expenditure made after the trainee has withdrawn.

If a trainee leaves without completing their ITT, the last date of training is the final day and date for which the ITT provider has evidence that they were still in training or attendance for any learning that is part of their ITT.

Supporting evidence may be requested to corroborate the withdrawal date.

All appropriate records should be retained by the ITT provider or lead school.

The total grant that is due to the lead school for the individual trainee will be used to calculate the value of funding to be recovered.

In cases where the lead school is a MAT, funding will initially be based on the location of the trust’s registered office and will be adjusted to reflect the location of the trainee’s employing or main placement academy during their training.

For trainees undertaking flexible School Direct (salaried) courses, we will take into consideration the withdrawal date and course length. Funding will be recovered on a pro-rata basis.

Deferrals

Schools, in agreement with the ITT provider, are responsible for making the decision to allow a trainee to defer.

Lead schools must communicate this decision to their ITT provider, who is responsible for reporting this to us through the DTTP.

Trainees can only defer once they have started their ITT course. The deferral period is usually a maximum of 1 year. It can be extended to more than 1 year with prior approval from us. The grant will only be paid up to the maximum grant rate relevant to the academic year in which the trainee starts, regardless of the year in which they return.

ITT providers are required to record all trainee deferrals as dormant periods in the course details tab on the DTTP. The school must retain these funds until the trainee returns to the course. If the trainee does not return to the course, funds relating to the remaining months on which the trainee was not training will be recovered in full. In this event, the deferral date or date of last attendance would become the date of withdrawal.

If the trainee returns to the course and subsequently withdraws, funding will be recovered on the basis of the total time that the trainee was on the course.

For trainees undertaking flexible School Direct (salaried) courses, we will take into consideration the deferral date and course length when calculating any funding adjustments or recoveries.

Question 10

Assurance and audit

Accepted Answer

Grant funding identified as recoverable as result of this exercise will be recouped.

In most cases, where recovery is required, it will be carried out by offsetting funding that will be paid to the lead schools in subsequent years. If this is not possible, we will invoice the lead school for the outstanding amount.

Grant funding may be recovered as a result of:

trainees not starting
trainees leaving before obtaining QTS, including trainees who accept a place and subsequently withdraw
the location of any partner school that employs the trainee, or main placement school in the ITT year, being in a lower funding area than the lead school
trainees offered a place beyond the lead school’s allocation in that subject
errors identified in trainee data submitted by schools and ITT providers, upon which the grant funding is calculated resulting in an overpayment
any miscalculation of grant funding which results in an overpayment to the lead school
any grant payment made to an incorrect recipient
any grant payment made in error

Grant funding may also be recovered as a result of:

early completion of training
non-compliance with the GFA, including, but not limited to, failure to submit an Annex G in accordance with the requirements of the grant funding letter or any subsequent communication from us

Where a recovery of grant funding is required, we may do this in the same or subsequent academic years.

Where a payment of grant funding is required outside of the academic year to which it relates, this will be classed as income to the lead school. Follow-up assurance will be required at the end of the academic year in which the payment was made.

Lead schools and associated ITT providers must hold full records of all trainees in receipt of grant funding, including evidence of the trainees’ academic qualifications achieved prior to starting their training.

Trainees must be in receipt of the degree on which their assessment was based, prior to starting the course. We reserve the right to request this evidence at any point during the academic year from lead schools and ITT providers, for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance.

ITT providers should make sure that all trainee records on the DTTP are complete. This includes amending the records of trainees who:

withdraw or defer from their ITT programme
start later in the academic year
return from earlier academic years

We reserve the right to:

delay or withhold payments to the lead school if data is inaccurate or incomplete
request this evidence from ITT providers and lead schools for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance

Lead schools are required to submit an annual certification of expenditure to us by 31 December 2021.

Lead schools in receipt of grant funding of:

£40,000 and above will be sent an Annex G(i) which requires an independent external auditor and accounting officer approval
less than £40,000 will be sent an Annex G(ii) and will need to be self-certified by the accounting officer of the lead school and chair of governors

As part of the grant assurance process lead schools are required to submit an audited breakdown of grant expenditure and corresponding trainee details. Where these trainee details differ from those submitted through the DTTP by the provider, we reserve the right to withhold or recover funding from the lead school. Further guidance on this will be sent out to you following the end of the academic year.

If a school is both a lead school for School Direct (salaried) places and the accredited entity for a SCITT provider, it must complete both the:

Annex G to the GFA for School Direct (salaried) grants
Annex G for other funding, such as for training bursaries

Failure to submit accurately completed and signed off assurance and audit documentation on time is likely to result in:

future ITT grants being withheld
the recovery of funding paid

Further assurance will be sought in the following academic year for trainees who:

deferred their training into the following academic year
extended their training into the following academic year

Lead schools need to retain all appropriate records for the next audit, such as when the trainee resumed their training and the status of the trainee.

We’ll supply further information about this process in autumn 2021.

Failure to fully comply with the data reporting and assurance requirements set out in this manual may result in:

the withdrawal of funding to lead schools
non-compliance by the ITT provider, which may lead to withdrawal of accreditation

Question 11

Annex A: types of organisation involved in School Direct

Accepted Answer

Lead school

The lead school:

is the agreed point of contact for the School Direct partnership
holds the partnership’s School Direct training places
is responsible for the partnership activity
can employ trainees, and receive grant funding for them
must agree the location of trainee with the ITT provider
is responsible for the grant funding and its distribution
is responsible for placing trainees across the partnership

They’ll be responsible for communications:

across the partnership to and from us
between each partner school

The lead school must be:

a maintained school – primary or secondary
a special school
a sixth form college
a pupil referral unit (PRU)
a city technology college
an academy
a multi academy trust
a free school

Independent schools cannot be lead schools unless they are designated as a teaching school.

Partner school

The partner school is any school within the partnership of schools involved in ITT. Partner schools that are independent schools may contribute to training.

Employing school

The employing school is defined as the school that employs the trainee during their ITT year.

An independent school that employs trainees can only receive funding if they are a designated teaching school.

Accredited ITT provider

The ITT provider is accredited by us.

An ITT Provider can be a:

higher education institution (HEI)
school centred ITT (SCITT) provider

The ITT provider is a full member of the School Direct partnership.

As an accredited provider of ITT it:

has the experience of delivering teacher training
is accountable for the marketing, selection, assessment and standards monitoring for trainees

The ITT provider will recommend trainees for the award of QTS.

Question 12

Annex B: locations used to calculate the value of grant funding

Accepted Answer

Initial payments will be made based on the location of the lead school, as detailed in grant funding rates.

The geographical locations for variation are set out in the school teachers’ pay and conditions.

Inner London area

‘Inner London area’ means the area comprising the London boroughs of:

Barking and Dagenham
Brent, Camden
City of London
Ealing
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Lambeth
Lewisham
Merton
Newham
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Wandsworth
Westminster

Outer London area

‘Outer London area’ means the area comprising the London boroughs of:

Barnet
Bexley
Bromley
Croydon
Enfield
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Kingston-upon-Thames
Redbridge
Richmond-upon-Thames
Sutton
Waltham Forest

Fringe area

‘Fringe area’ means:

Berkshire – the districts of Bracknell Forest, Slough, and Windsor and Maidenhead
Buckinghamshire – the districts of South Buckinghamshire and Chiltern
Essex – the districts of Basildon, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow and Thurrock
Hertfordshire – the districts of Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield
Kent – the districts of Dartford and Sevenoaks
Surrey – the whole county
West Sussex – the district of Crawley

Question 13

Annex C: further information and contacts

Accepted Answer

Additional supporting information

School Direct information for schools: getting involved and guidance for lead schools

School Direct funding: pages which support and inform types of funding for ITT

Degree equivalency: information on compatibility of qualifications across the world with UK recognised degree standards

UCAS teacher training: search and apply for training programmes

Postgraduate teacher apprenticeship funding manual

Initial teacher training bursary manual

ITT criteria and supporting advice

Contacts

Contact itt.funding@education.gov.uk for:

funding and payment queries from schools and ITT
grant funding letters and agreements queries

For allocation queries email itt.allocations@education.gov.uk.

For DTTP, October census queries, or any other data matters, email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk.

For ITT criteria email itt.accreditation@education.gov.uk.

For all other enquiries, contact DfE.

The future teaching scholars programme is not covered by this guidance or funded through School Direct (salaried). For further information, email schools@futureteachingscholars.com.

Question 14

Annex D: funding cycle

Accepted Answer

June to July 2020

We’ll write to lead schools to:

give notification of 2020 to 2021 funding arrangements
supply the GFA

New lead schools should submit GFAs to us.

Lead schools continuing with the programme from 2019 to 2020 should acknowledge and accept their new GFA annexes.

August 2020

We’ll write to lead schools about funding amounts for September to November based on recruitment data.

Lead schools must submit their GFAs/acknowledgement of new annexes by 24 August to enable September payment.

ITT providers can begin to register trainees on DTTP.

September 2020

The first of 11 payments are made to lead schools with a GFA in place on the basis of recruitment data.

ITT providers continue to register trainees on DTTP.

Payment profile and funding summary available to lead schools on DTTP.