Offer a trainee teacher placement
Explains what schools need to do to offer initial teaching training (ITT) placements from September 2024.
Applies to England
Teacher training would not be possible without school placements. Schools are an essential part of training. School placements allow trainee teachers to get a variety of experience to enable them to:
- meet all the teachers’ standards
- achieve qualified teacher status (QTS)
We know that many schools view supporting the training of the next generation of teachers as part of their professional purpose. By providing school placements, they enable the pipeline of new teachers to the profession. This may also provide an opportunity for schools to identify talent for their own school recruitment needs.
This guidance explains the role of initial teaching training (ITT) placement schools from September 2024.
Overview of school placements
During their training, trainees must complete at least 2 school placements over 24 weeks (or over 32 weeks on 4-year undergraduate ITT courses). Trainees need to:
- teach children and young people:
- in their specified age range
- from different backgrounds
- gain experience of different approaches to:
- teaching
- school organisation
- management
Placements should encompass these requirements.
While on placement, trainees should spend a minimum of 15 hours per week in a classroom setting. This could include:
- observing
- teaching
- co-teaching
ITT courses must enable trainees to experience teacher contact time at 80% of a full teaching timetable (as is typically defined in the school where the placement is taking place) for 6 weeks during their school placements.
Placements take place at different times during the school year. They typically last between half a term and a term in length. Accredited ITT providers should discuss the different placement options with placement schools.
Placement schools also provide the trainee with a school-based mentor to support their learning and development.
Offer an ITT placement
To offer a trainee teacher an ITT placement in your school, you need to partner with either an:
- accredited ITT provider
- organisation delivering ITT as a partner of an accredited ITT provider
Contact your nearest teaching school hub to get advice on offering an ITT placement.
If you already offer ITT placements, you’ll need to check that your existing ITT provider is either:
- accredited to offer teacher training courses from September 2024
- delivering as a partner of an accredited ITT provider
Otherwise, you’ll need to contact your local teaching school hub to get advice. They’ll be able to help you find a local accredited ITT provider to work with.
Before the ITT placement begins
Schools host placements for trainees who are on a:
- fee-funded (non-salaried) route
- salaried route
Most trainees undertake a fee-funded ITT course. This means that they fund the course, often with the support of tuition fee and maintenance loans. Trainees on fee-funded routes will need to complete 2 contrasting school placements. These are typically about half a term to a term in length. For some subjects, there are bursaries and scholarships for eligible trainees on a fee-funded ITT course.
Trainees on salaried routes are paid a salary while they train to teach. They are typically employed by the school. These trainees will also have a shorter contrasting placement at another school that is typically about half a term in length.
Schools can also recruit to a vacancy by becoming the employing school for a trainee under a salaried route. For the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship and school direct (salaried) route, DfE offers grant funding to contribute to the trainee’s salary and training costs in certain subjects. This is paid to the accredited ITT provider, and they are responsible for ensuring that all funding designated to support salary costs reaches the employing school. For more information, refer to Funding: initial teacher training.
If you’re interested in providing a school placement or becoming an employing school, contact your local teaching school hub or email becomingateacher@education.gov.uk.
Assign a school-based mentor
Many schools find that having staff involved in mentoring trainees and new teachers has a positive impact on teaching practice across the school. Reflecting on and articulating what makes effective teaching on a regular basis is highly beneficial for school improvement.
If you’re offering an ITT placement from September 2024, you’ll need to be able to assign a school-based mentor who can spend at least 1.5 hours with their trainee per week. Each school-based mentor must complete up to 20 hours of initial mentor training per accredited ITT provider. This training will help mentors understand:
- what’s involved in the mentor role and the skills they need
- the ITT core content framework and its underpinning evidence
- the ITT curriculum which the trainee will be following
Mentors can start their initial mentor training between 6 April 2024 and 31 May 2025 for courses starting in the 2024 to 2025 academic year. They do not need to complete the training before they can begin to support trainees, but training should be aligned to meet the trainees’ needs throughout their ITT course.
Accredited ITT providers should also consider any relevant prior learning that mentors have completed including as an early career framework (ECF) mentor. This may reduce the total hours of training a mentor needs to complete.
You’ll be able to claim funding for the actual hours training undertaken by the mentor to a maximum of 20 hours per accredited provider. More information about the general mentor grant and how to apply is available in the initial teacher training reform funding guidance.
Lead mentors
The accredited ITT provider will allocate a lead mentor to support the delivery of their ITT courses.
A core role of a lead mentor is to:
- support and train school-based mentors
- supervise school-based mentors
- make sure all trainees are receiving sufficient mentoring and support during their placements
- check placements align with their trainee curriculum and the ITT core content framework
During the ITT placement
Every trainee will receive 1.5 hours per week of mentoring support. This is to ensure that a trainees’ in-school, practical experiences are coherent with the training curriculum.
Mentors have a critical role in providing trainees with feedback on a particular approach. Mentors should use evidence to provide a structured process for improving the trainee’s practice and understanding of key concepts.
Offer intensive training and practice
Another way that schools can get involved in ITT is through supporting intensive training and practice. This is a new curriculum element of all ITT courses leading to QTS from September 2024. It involves:
- an intensive focus on theoretical learning for an area of teaching
- putting this theoretical learning into practice immediately
- getting expert, focused feedback on the practice
An accredited ITT provider will design and deliver intensive training and practice. However, some elements of intensive training and practice will need to take place in a school environment, such as live classroom practice.
Intensive training and practice is not a part of the school placement. Schools offering ITT placements may also decide to support practice elements of the intensive training and practice. However, schools do not have to offer ITT placements to be involved in intensive training and practice, and some schools have expertise that would make them particularly well placed to support delivery of intensive training and practice.
To get involved in intensive training and practice, contact your local teaching school hub. If you’re in an existing ITT partnership, contact your accredited ITT provider.
Updates to this page
Last updated 15 May 2024 + show all updates
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Updates to 'Offer an ITT placement' and 'Assign a school-based mentor' sections of the guidance.
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First published.