Guidance

School Direct (salaried) funding manual: 2025 to 2026 academic year

Updated 28 November 2024

Applies to England

School Direct (salaried)

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

You are responsible for ensuring that all grant funding, designated to support salary costs reaches the employing school to be used for its intended purpose.

Funding varies by subject and not all subjects are eligible for funding. More details are given in the Grant funding rates section.

Where grant funding is provided as a contribution to the training and salary costs, you cannot charge trainees for the award of qualified teacher status (QTS).

As School Direct (salaried) trainees are employed while training, they are not eligible for a training bursary or student finance. You will need to inform your trainees if they need to pay any fees.

Teaching duties

You should decide before the start of your trainee’s course the teaching duties they are required to perform. The initial teacher training (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.

Who can offer School Direct (salaried) places

ITT provider

The ITT provider is the agreed point of contact for placement schools and partner schools. They hold permission to recruit to ITT courses on behalf of the partnership.

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

Lead partners

Lead partners will work within the ITT partnership and have a partnership agreement with the accredited ITT provider. Lead partners may be:

• higher education institutions (HEIs)
• schools
• trusts
• other types of organisations (including Teaching School Hubs)

They will have the capacity and expertise to take on significant operational or strategic roles in the ITT partnership and will work in collaboration with their accredited ITT provider.

A partner school involved in ITT may employ the trainee, if it is state-funded, and may receive funding from the ITT provider. State-funded partner schools may be the principal training school for any School Direct trainee. 

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive funding from the ITT provider.

Ofsted inspections

ITT providers should satisfy themselves that partner schools have the capacity to undertake their responsibilities.

Schools in special measures can recruit trainees, and continue employing existing trainees, as long as employment at the school does not negatively affect the trainee or the quality of their training. The ITT accredited provider is responsible for maintaining the quality of their programme.

The ITT provider must also be willing to offer any necessary support to the trainee and partner school during the training period. If the ITT provider cannot offer the necessary support, then an alternative school within the partnership must employ the trainee. Schools and providers should email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk to arrange the transfer.

Trainee eligibility criteria

The ITT provider 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

Eligibility for QTS

QTS is a legal requirement to teach in certain English schools and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England. There are different routes, depending on an applicants’ prior experience and qualifications.

Some teachers who are trained and recognised overseas may be able to apply for QTS without further assessment or training. More details of the recognition service can be found on the A fairer approach to awarding QTS to overseas teachers page.

Individuals can check their eligibility to apply for QTS through the recognition service by using our online eligibility checker. If the checker suggests an applicant is eligible to apply for QTS, they should be advised to apply for QTS through the recognition service.

If an applicant does not believe they are eligible for QTS through the service, they must satisfy the provider that they do not meet at least one of the eligibility criteria, before a grant assessment can be continued.

Any further queries can be directed to qts.enquiries@education.gov.uk.

Separate continuing professional development (CPD) may be appropriate for those who already hold QTS.

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)

They must continue to maintain their registration with the SET for this recognition to be valid. The SET professional status register allows a provider to check a trainee’s status.

Changing lead partners or training route

After a partnership agreement is drawn up and places are advertised to applicants, the ITT provider should make all reasonable efforts to deliver the course as described.

A provider must not transfer a trainee from one partnership or ITT route to another without prior agreement from the ITT Funding Team. Email ITT.Funding@education.gov.uk.

All changes must be confirmed by us before a place is offered to any applicant.

For further information about changing any aspect of courses that have been agreed with us, email becomingateacher@digital.education.gov.uk.

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

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

Grant funding rates

Grant funding will be paid to ITT providers for the following subjects. Funding will only be provided for trainees on courses in the identified subjects.

Subject	School Direct (salaried) funding
Chemistry	£29,000
Computing	£29,000
Mathematics	£29,000
Physics	£29,000
Biology	£26,000
Design and technology (including engineering and food technology)	£26,000
Geography	£26,000
Languages (including ancient languages)	£26,000
Art and design	£10,000
Music	£10,000
Religious education	£10,000
English	£5,000

Grant funding agreements (GFAs)

All ITT providers 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 and is due to start in September 2025.

We will contact all relevant ITT providers before the start of the academic year to request the appropriate documentation. They will be sent a grant offer letter (GOL) which includes the terms and conditions of the 2025 to 2026 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 ITT provider’s accounting officer, we will arrange for this to be countersigned by our responsible officer and returned to the provider. This countersigned document forms the GFA and must be retained by the provider.

If a GFA is delayed, grant funding payments will be made in the following month.

Conditions of grant

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 postgraduate 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 follow the school teachers’ pay and conditions, which states that an unqualified teacher must be paid a 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 must 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 still:

• 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 register trainee teachers service (Register).We cannot be held responsible for any costs associated with recruiting trainees in subjects that are not eligible for grant funding.

Payment of School Direct (salaried) funding

Who we pay

The grant will be paid directly to the ITT provider. ITT providers should identify funding arrangements and mechanisms to recover unused funds in written agreements with their partners.

Flexible courses

ITT providers 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 is the responsibility of the ITT provider 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 criteria set out in the Assurance and audit section.

Payments    

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

Payments will be made on or around the third working day of each month and are subject to:

• completion of grant funding documentation
• trainee numbers being established from available data

The first payment of the 2025 to 2026 academic year will be made in September 2025. If you receive your first payment after September 2025, it will be adjusted to include payments backdated to September. The final payment will be made in July 2026.

How much the payment will be

The payments from September to November 2025 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 will adjust the monthly payment amounts from December 2025 onwards. We will issue any arrears that may be due or recover funding as appropriate within this adjustment.

We will 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. This includes data on:

• applications
• recruitment
• employment outcomes

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

It is 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, employing schools are required to provide their ITT provider with accurate placement and employing school data. Schools must inform providers promptly of any changes such as:

• withdrawals
• deferrals

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 Register for HEIs and non-HEIs.

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

Withdrawals and deferrals

Withdrawals

If a trainee withdraws, ITT providers must update the trainee’s record in Register in the same month they have withdrawn.

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

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the School Direct (salaried) funding for each month or part-month the trainee remained in training.

Example: If a trainee commences a School Direct (salaried) course from September 2025 and leaves in March 2026, you can retain seven-elevenths of the School Direct (salaried) grant funding.

Your School Direct (salaried) funding will then either be:

• adjusted in-year, if you have updated the trainee data in Register
• recovered as part of the Annex G reconciliation exercise following the end of the academic year

We will not reimburse providers for any expenditure incurred after the trainee has withdrawn.

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

We may request supporting evidence to corroborate the withdrawal date, and all appropriate records should be retained by the ITT provider, lead partner or employing school.

For trainees undertaking part-time or accelerated 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

ITT providers, in agreement with the employing school, are responsible for making the decision to allow a trainee to defer. The ITT provider is responsible for reporting this to us through Register.

Trainees can only defer once they have started their ITT course. 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.

If a trainee defers, ITT providers must update the trainee’s record in Register in the same month they have deferred.

ITT providers can keep one-eleventh of the relevant funding for each month or part-month the trainee remained in training before deferring. The remaining funding will be recovered as part of a funding reconciliation exercise following the end of the academic year. On the trainee’s return to the course, you must contact the ITT funding team with the relevant trainee and funding details to receive the outstanding funding amount.

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 part-time or accelerated School Direct (salaried) courses, we will take into consideration the deferral date and course length when calculating any funding adjustments or recoveries.

Assurance and audit

Grant funding identified as recoverable as a 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 ITT provider in subsequent years. If this is not possible, we will invoice the ITT provider 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
• 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 ITT provider
• any grant payment made to an incorrect recipient
• any grant payment made in error

Grant funding may also be recovered as a result of 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.

Employing 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 the ITT provider, for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance.

ITT providers should make sure that all trainee records in Register 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 ITT provider if data is inaccurate or incomplete
• request this evidence from ITT providers for the purpose of monitoring quality and funding assurance

ITT providers are required to submit an Annex G return to us by 31 December 2026.

As part of the grant assurance process, ITT providers are required to submit an audited breakdown of grant expenditure and corresponding trainee details. Where these trainee details differ from those submitted through Register, we reserve the right to request further information or evidence from the ITT provider to confirm these details before making any additional recovery or reimbursement payments.

Further guidance on this will be sent to you following the end of the academic year.

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 to the following academic year
• extended their training into the following academic year

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

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

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

Annex A: types of organisation involved in School Direct (salaried)

ITT provider

The ITT provider is accredited by the Department for Education (DfE) and can be:

• a HEI
• a SCITT provider

The accredited ITT provider:

• has the experience of delivering teacher training
• is accountable for marketing, the selecting and assessing of trainees and the monitoring of standards

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

Lead partner

Lead partners will work within the ITT partnership and have a partnership agreement with the accredited ITT provider. Lead partners may be:

• HEIs
• schools
• trusts
• other types of organisations (including Teaching School Hubs)

They will have the capacity and expertise to take on significant operational or strategic roles in the ITT partnership and will work in collaboration with their accredited ITT provider.

Their responsibilities should be agreed and delegated through formal arrangements with the accredited ITT provider.

Partner school

The partner school is defined as any school within the partnership of schools involved in ITT.

Employing school

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

Independent schools may contribute to the training, but are ineligible to receive funding from the ITT provider.

Annex B: further information and contacts

Additional supporting information

Apply for teacher training

ITT bursary: funding manual

ITT: criteria and supporting advice

Postgraduate teacher apprenticeships: funding manual 

Contacts

Email ITT.Funding@education.gov.uk for queries from ITT providers about:

• funding and payments
• grant funding agreements

For queries about permission to recruit, Register, 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.

Annex C: funding cycle

These are the key events in the funding cycle.

June to July 2025

In your first year of delivery, you will be contacted to submit your GFA to us. If other documents, such as letters of variation, are required, we will contact individual ITT providers separately.

August 2025

Apply acceptance data is incorporated into the funding model. This allows us to make interim payments to you from September to November 2025, if you have a GFA in place.

Payment profiles are available in Register during this period.

November 2025

Your Register data is incorporated into the funding model to confirm payments from December 2025. This is based on the trainee registration returns submitted through Register on or before the census closure date.

December 2025 to January 2026

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your data in Register.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

February to April 2026

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in February 2026 to include any changes submitted through Register since the census was published.

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

May to July 2026

Your data in Register will be updated in the funding model in May 2026 to include any changes submitted through Register.

These payments will be made, if you have a GFA in place, based on your Register data. Any subsequent changes to your Register data will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Grant summaries and payment profiles are available in Register.

Annex D: assurance and audit process

These are the key events in the assurance and audit process.

September to December 2026

We will send final assurance documents to you at the end of the academic year. We will pre-populate these with the amount of funding you have received and the details of the trainees the funding applies to.

The completed document, and auditor report (if applicable), will help you to provide us with the necessary assurance for both the amount received and the purpose for which it was used. Further guidance on this process will be sent to you at the same time.

These should be returned by 31 December 2026.

January to March 2027

In addition to the final assurance document and auditor report (if applicable), we also apply a sampling process to gain assurance of the grant expenditure. This involves assurance checks through the collection of evidence on sampled trainees, including withdrawals, course information and payment information. 

Recoveries and reimbursements will be completed through the payment profile or invoice.