Graduate Teacher Training: QTS & PGCE

Overview

Ambition Institute’s Teacher Training programme sets you on the path to becoming an excellent teacher. Join us and give every child the best possible start in life.

• Improve children’s lives: we are a national education charity with a mission to help young people reach their full potential, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Learn with England’s largest professional development provider for teachers and school leaders: in the last school year, one out of every nine teachers and school leaders in England trained with Ambition.
• Train in school: you’ll complete most of your training in your main placement school and will also gain further skills and experience in a contrasting school. During this time, you’ll get the high-quality academic training you’d expect to get from a university, combined with immersive classroom learning.
• Be guided by a mentor: you’ll have weekly one-to-one guidance from a dedicated mentor. Your mentoring sessions will include protected time to discuss your wellbeing, coaching for your classroom practice and support with planning for lessons. This will build your confidence and allow you to put your learning into practice in a structured, step‑by‑step way, before taking it live in the classroom.
• Qualify as a teacher in 11 months: on successful completion of the programme, you will have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and 60 credits towards a master’s degree.

Once you’re a fully qualified teacher, your minimum starting salary will be £32,916 in England (or more in London). Some of our school partners will also be offering ways to complete our teacher training programme whilst also receiving a salary. You'll be able to see which partners are offering this by going to our handy tool here, selecting your preferences and viewing their descriptions.

If you are enrolled on an unsalaried place, you may be able to apply for funding of up to £31,000 to cover the costs of your tuition fees, which you would not need to pay back. You can find out more here.

Through our national network of partners, you can train in a school location that suits you.

You can choose to train to teach primary pupils (ages 5-11). Alternatively, you can train to teach secondary pupils (ages 11-16) in one of the following subjects:
Art and Design, Biology, Chemistry, Computing, English, French, Geography, History, Mathematics, Physical Education, Physics, and Spanish.

This is an 11‑month, full time, postgraduate programme. You may also be able to do part‑time training, spread across 20 months (two academic years).

• An undergraduate bachelor’s degree with honours, or equivalent.
• A GCSE grade 4/C or above in English and maths, or equivalent.
• Primary school trainees will need a GCSE grade 4/C or above in science, or equivalent. Please note that you don't need prior teaching experience; however, some of our school partners may require a degree and/or A-level qualification related to the subject you wish to teach.

We accept international qualifications that are equivalent to our eligibility criteria above. You will need to provide an ENIC statement of comparability at the conditional offer stage; this costs £69.60. It takes 15 working days to complete your order from the date ENIC receives your qualification documents and payment. For more information and to apply for your ENIC statement, please visit UK ENIC.

Please also note that you must have a visa with permission to work in the UK full-time by the start and for the duration of the training programme. Unfortunately, Ambition Institute cannot sponsor your visa. You can find out more about which visa to apply for by visiting Get Into Teaching.