Employing schools can find out more about their roles and responsibilities on the government’s Employ a postgraduate teaching apprentice website.
If you are a local authority maintained school or part of an academy trust, the apprenticeship levy pot will be held centrally and therefore permission should be sought from your head office or local authority.
You will be guided through the apprenticeship paperwork. Following an applicant’s acceptance to the apprenticeship, you will need to set up the learner on the central digital account.
Grant funding
Grant funding is available to schools for some secondary subjects to support the salary costs of employing an apprentice. A list of which course subjects are eligible for grant funding and at what rate, together with the funding rules for Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeships, are available on the gov.uk site.
Off-the-job-training and school placement
Your apprentice will need to undertake a minimum of 20% off-the-job training throughout the course, meaning that they cannot be timetabled to teach on Fridays or specific dates in September.
They will also need to undertake a four-week contrasting school placement early in the spring term. During this period, they will be unavailable to teach in your school.
Off-the-job training hours are an integral part of the apprenticeship and will need to be logged by the apprentice. The apprentice should also receive their statutory 10% minimum planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) which is on top of the off-the-job training.
Trainees must teach across two key stages and need to be taught about teaching and learning in at least four consecutive school years.