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Salaried QTS (primary only)

Programme overview

Salaried QTS (primary only)

The Salaried route is an employed route that combines paid work in your employing school with training in the 5-11 age range through the Tommy Flowers SCITT.

As a salaried trainee, you will be employed as an Unqualified Teacher by your placement school for the duration of their training. Therefore, prior to applying, you must have already secured employment or come to an agreement with a school who want to employ you and support you throughout your training year. Unlike our Post Graduate Teacher Apprenticeship (which is currently only available to candidates in academies or multi-academy trusts), the Salaried route is available for local-authority schools as well. Candidates without an employing school should consider our Tuition-fee QTS or Tuition-fee QTS with PGCE courses.

Our Salaried course is offered in the 5-11 primary age range and leads to the award of Qualified Teacher Status at the end of the 10-month course. Candidates may elect to also take the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) for an additional charge of £1,000.

Features of the Salaried (primary only) route

  • Receive a salary from your employing school
  • Award of Qualified Teacher Status
  • Option to take the PGCE (additional cost of £1,000)
  • More responsibilities for teaching the class than the tuition-fee routes
  • Requires prior experience as an unqualified teacher, HLTA or teaching assistant and an employing school to apply
  • Two placements within our local partnership schools
  • Support of an experienced mentor
  • Weekly professional studies and subject studies training
  • 10 month course (September – June)
Fees and finance

Fees and finance

Salaried trainees on the Salaried QTS (primary only) route are paid for the duration of the apprenticeship by their employing school on at least point 1 of the Unqualified Teachers’ Pay Scale.

The fees of £8,250 are payable in three instalments (25% by 1st October, 25% by 1st February and 50% by 1st May). Fees may be paid by the Salaried trainee, their employing school or split between the two. This is to be agreed by the trainee and their employing school.

Candidates have the option to also take the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) for an additional fee of £1000.

Salaried trainees are not eligible for student finance from Student Finance England, as they are earning a salary.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

All applicants for the Salaried QTS (primary only) route must meet the following entry requirements.

Degree

You must hold a bachelor’s degree with honours class 2.2 or above from a UK Higher Education Institution (HEI), or an equivalent qualification. The UK National Information Centre for the recognition and evaluation of international qualifications and skills (UK ENIC) can provide advice on the equivalence of overseas qualifications. If you are in your final year of completing your degree, you can still apply to us – successfully gaining your degree will become a condition of any offer you receive.

GCSEs

English (Language or Literature), Maths and a Science GCE or equivalent qualifications at grade C/4 or above. A full list of accepted GCSE equivalent qualifications can be found here. We also accept equivalency tests from Equivalency Testing or A Star Equivalency. Please contact us if you are unsure if your qualifications are equivalent or to discuss your options.

Applying and course codes

Applying for the Salaried QTS (primary only) course

All applications for our teacher training programmes (with the exception of the Assessment Only route) must be made online using the Government’s Apply for Teacher Training portal.

Once your application has been submitted, it will be received by our team who will check the entry requirements have been met and that the application meets a high standard of English. If your relevant qualifications are from overseas, please ensure you have UK ENIC in place when you apply and add the ENIC certificate number to your application. You may then be invited to an interview day.

Once a conditional offer has been made, two references (professional and academic) will be required from the applicant.

Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor candidates from overseas who require a VISA to study or work in the UK.

Course Codes

Please use the provider coded 1YK to apply to the Tommy Flowers SCITT, along with the following course codes for the Salaried QTS or QTS with PGCE (primary only) routes:

Primary:
H223
Primary (5-11) Salaried QTS
T207 Primary (5-11) Salaried QTS with PGCE
For Primary (3-7) please visit Bedgrove Infant School

Structure and support

Structure and support

Training to become a teacher is an exciting experience. As a Salaried trainee, you may have independent responsibility for your class for part of the weekly timetable. As such, we believe the wellbeing of trainees is paramount and so a wide range of support is available.

School Mentor

Your School Mentor is the person you will see every day. They are an exceptional teacher who will act as a critical friend. Your mentor will support you in planning lessons, observe you and provide feedback on your strengths, progress and next steps and will have a dedicated weekly mentor meeting to help you develop further. “Mentors are highly skilled at helping trainees to identify for themselves what they need to work on next” (Ofsted, 2023).

Professional Tutor

The Professional Tutor (a senior leader within your placement school), is responsible for teacher training within the school. They will support the School Mentor and yourself, ensure that you are getting a broad experience and a range of opportunities. “All stakeholders are fully invested in the partnership” (Ofsted, 2023).

Partnership Manager and Lead Mentor

You will see your Partnership Manager and Lead Mentors weekly at training sessions. Their role is to organise and co-ordinate the whole programme but they are also there to provide advice and support where required. They will  complete termly Lead Mentor visits to your schools and validate your assessments.

Peer support

Tommy Flowers SCITT trainees often make friends for life through the course. At the weekly training sessions, plenty of opportunities are given for trainees to share, talk through ideas and work collaboratively.

PGCE

Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

Trainees may elect to take the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in addition to Qualified Teacher Status and the Post Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship. The PGCE is a Masters level qualification that provides 60 credits towards the 180 credits required for the awarding of a full Masters degree. The PGCE is accredited by Northumbria University and costs £1,000.

The PGCE sessions are taught and assessed through the submission of written assignments.

The first focuses on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and allows trainees to work collaboratively before individually writing 1,200 words about a particular area of SEND need. This is due at the end of October.

The second assignment explores trainee’s classroom practice and enables trainees to develop their understanding of the theory and pedagogy of behaviour for learning. This runs from November to January, culminating in a 4,500 word assignment.

Finally, the reflect practice assignment, running from January to May looks at assessment, marking and feedback. This also concludes with a 4,500 word written assignment.

Assessment

Assessment on the Salaried route

The Tommy Flowers SCITT will formatively review your progress throughout the course, with a summative assessment against our Curriculum in June. By meeting the Tommy Flowers SCITT curriculum, you will have demonstrated that you have met each of the Teachers’ Standards and can therefore be awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Supporting material for your reviews include:

Online portfolio

Your online portfolio will include a sample of lesson plans, resources, observations and evaluations from your teaching throughout the year. It will support you in talking about how you have developed as a teacher across the course. Weekly mentor meetings and tasks related to your learning will be stored in the portfolio

Projects

These projects enable you to develop your expertise in key areas of the Tommy Flowers SCITT curriculum, including planning sequenced lessons, early reading and phonics (primary), how children learn in your subject (secondary) and developing your knowledge of an area of SEND.

The interview process

The interview process

If called to one of our selection days, you will be sent full information via email. The selection days are an opportunity for us to get to know you but also for you to find out more about us and the course.

The selection day includes the following:

  • A 20 minute teaching task with a group of 8 children
  • Literacy task
  • An interview

The selection process will usually about 2 hours.  Further information and resources for this will be sent out when you are offered an interview and we are always willing to answer any questions you may have before the selection day.

Fundamental English and maths

Fundamental English and maths skills

Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers are expected to make an assessment of the English and maths knowledge of a trainee before Qualified Teacher Status is awarded. The following guidance demonstrates the fundamental skills required to be a teacher. The interview process assesses a candidates strengths in these areas. Once accepted onto one of our courses, it is the responsibility of trainees to fill any gaps before the end of their training year.

Speaking, Listening and Communicating:

  • Identify key information and main points from discussion or presentations.
  • Demonstrate effective listening skills and the ability to follow a line of thought.
  • Use a range of questions appropriate to purpose and context.
  • Communicate information and ideas clearly, adding appropriate detail.
  • Speak with Standard English grammar and clear pronunciation, using vocabulary relevant to the situation.
  • Manage discussions effectively.

Reading:

  • Extract key points and more specific information from texts.
  • Recognise that different texts convey information, opinions and ideas in different ways
  • Accurately comprehend meanings in texts.
  • Use dictionaries, glossaries, internet searches and other reference materials in your own work.
  • Know how to use organisational features of texts to rapidly locate and retrieve information.
  • Be able to identify different points of view from reading material and distinguish fact from opinion.

Writing:

  • Demonstrate a range of sentence constructions and punctuation in written work.
  • Use Standard English grammar in written work.
  • Spell common and everyday words that a professional would be expected to know.
  • Ensure written work conveys meaning clearly, coherently and effectively using appropriate detail and length.
  • Use a range of organisational devices in written work, ensuring the text is coherent and cohesive
  • Use legible and clear writing appropriate to the situation and audience.

Data and Graphs:

  • Describe simple mathematical relationships between two variables.
  • Analyse data in a table and draw conclusions from the information provided.
  • Make sense of statistics and graphs in the news, in academic reports and relevant papers.
  • Identify and interpret anomalies and outliers in data tables or on graphs.

Mathematical Calculations:

  • Calculate using whole and decimal numbers.
  • Make changes to an existing mathematical formula to carry out calculations.
  • Work out percentages of amounts, express one amount as a percentage of another and calculate percentage change.
  • Order, approximate and compare decimals, fractions and percentages.
  • Understand and calculate using ratios, direct proportion and inverse proportion.
  • Carry out simple budgeting by calculating amounts of money, percentage increases, decreases and discounts.

Solve Mathematical Problems:

  • Solve mathematical problems by breaking them down into a series of simpler steps and selecting appropriate operations.
  • Make general estimates of calculations to be able to judge the reasonableness of an answer.
  • Know how to use a variety of strategies when counting, measuring or estimating.
  • Calculate using units of time.