SCITT Tuition-Fee QTS with PGCE

Professional studies

During these sessions, you will explore the skills of becoming an outstanding teacher through the first five of our curriculum areas:

1. Pedagogy, including how children learn, and planning
2. Managing pupil behaviour and maintaining high expectations
3. Adaptive teaching, including SEND, EAL, disadvantage, mental health and more able
4. Assessment of pupils
5. Professional behaviours, statutory expectations and wellbeing

Subject studies

Our sixth curriculum area is  Subject and curriculum knowledge.

In primary, these sessions, led by subject experts from across the region, develop your understanding of the most effective strategies for teaching all subjects taught at primary level, equipping you to teach across the full age range from Year 1 to Year 6.

For secondary, you will join other trainees in your subject and your dedicated subject tutors to explore the specific knowledge and strategies required to teach your subject.

PGCE

The PGCE is a Masters level qualification providing 60 credits towards the 180 credits required for the awarding of the full Masters degree. The awarding body is Northumbria University, but the course is designed and taught by Tommy Flowers SCITT staff.

Tuition-fee loans

Most candidates are eligible for a tuition-fee loan from Student Finance Engand which is repayable once you are earning above the threshold.

Bursaries and scholarships

Bursaries or scholarships – up to £31,000, tax-free – are available for some secondary courses depending on your subject and degree. Applicants may be eligible for a bursary if they have a 1st, 2:1, 2:2, Master’s degree or PhD. Bursaries for 2025-26 are as follows:

• £29,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £26,000 in biology, design and technology, geography and languages
• £10,000 in art and design, music and RE
• £5,000 in English

Scholarships are usually available to applicants with a 1st, 2:1 Master’s degree or PhD. Visit Get Into Teaching for further details.

Tommy Flowers SCITT bursary

The Tommy Flowers SCITT offers a £3,000 tax-free bursary for primary and all secondary courses that are not eligible for the Government bursary. The Tommy Flowers SCITT is the only provider offering this innovative bursary.

• 10 monthly instalments of £300
• Tax-free
• In addition to your student loan or maintenance loan

Please watch this video for further details.

Maintenance loans

Depending on your personal financial circumstances, you may also be eligible for a maintenance loan to contribute towards your costs of living. This is means-tested and will be completely individualised to each applicant. Visit Student Finance England for more details of your eligibility.

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 (UK ENIC) or our administrators can provide advice on the equivalence of overseas qualifications. For applicants to a secondary course, your degree should be in or closely related to the subject you wish to train to teach. Should your degree not be in the subject for which you are applying to teach, you will require a minimum of a grade B at A level in that subject in order to meet the requirement for recommendation to a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course. 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) and Maths GCSE or equivalent qualifications at grade C/4 or above. For primary candidates, a Science GCSE or equivalent is also required 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.

Applicants who are not UK or Irish nationals will need to demonstrate that they have the right to live and study in the UK before their applications can be processed. You will be asked to send evidence of one of the following:

• Indefinite Leave to Remain Under the EU Settlement Scheme (known as Settled Status) e.g. email confirming settled or pre-settled status for EU citizens
• Indefinite Leave to Remain e.g. a stamp in your passport or a letter from the Home Office. You could also have a ‘vignette’ (sticker) or a biometric residence permit.
• UK Permanent Residence Document e.g. a certificate inside your blue ‘residence documentation’ booklet (or pink if you’re a Swiss national), a certificate inside your passport, a biometric residence card confirming permanent residence (only if you’re not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen)

If you have a Graduate visa, a Youth Mobility Scheme visa, a Family visa or  UK Ancestry visa, you are encouraged to contact us prior to applying in order to check your eligibility. We are unfortunately unable to sponsor Student visas and our courses are not eligible for Skilled Worker visas.

Irish nationals can continue to enter, work and study in the UK under the Common Travel Area as they could previously.

Further information can be found on the Get Into Teaching website for overseas graduates.

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.

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 selection day includes the following:

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