The Teacher Degree Apprenticeship (TDA) is a new route into teaching. It offers the opportunity to earn whilst you learn, become a qualified teacher and gain a degree without student debt.
Degree apprenticeships are growing in popularity and will be offered alongside the university route, so aspirational teachers will be able to choose the path that works best for them.
What are Teacher Degree Apprenticeships?
Normally, teacher training courses require candidates to already have a degree to be eligible. But through a teacher degree apprenticeship, you will spend some time every week studying toward your degree with a university and the rest of your time working in a school.
At the end of your apprenticeship, you will attain both an undergraduate degree and qualified teacher status (QTS) – both of which are required to teach in England.
It will be available for people to train as both primary and secondary teachers.
When can I apply?
Courses for the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship are now available on Find Teacher Training and will be added throughout the year, up until September 2025, with training due to start in autumn 2025.
How do I apply?
You can apply for Teacher Degree Apprenticeship courses on Find Teacher Training. Please note that courses will be added by individual training providers, so we recommend visiting Find Teacher Training regularly to keep up to date.
Who is eligible and what qualifications do I need?
TDA courses are open for individuals to gain a degree and become a qualified teacher. This includes, but is not limited to, teaching assistants, school leavers or people looking to change careers.
To be eligible to apply, you must be:
- a resident of England for the last 3 years or more
- at least 16 years old
To meet the academic requirements, you must have:
- GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths (and science if you want to teach primary)
- A levels - the number of A levels or equivalent qualifications required will be set by individual universities
How much will trainees earn?
Trainees will start working in the classroom from day one. As they develop skills to become excellent teachers, they will gradually scale up their teaching practice.
Salaries will reflect trainee responsibilities at each stage of their course.
On top of receiving a salary, their training and qualifications will be fully funded.
How is this different to other teaching qualifications?
Currently, except for fee-funded undergraduate initial teacher training, all routes into teaching require trainees to already have a degree or undertake full time, fee-funded study.
The TDA will be an exciting and unique route into teaching that builds on the existing Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship (PGTA) and will be the only route that provides a salary as well as the training to get both a degree and QTS.
Will this lower teaching standards?
No. On completion, TDA trainees will have the same qualifications as someone who has qualified as a teacher through any other teacher training route.
This doesn’t mean trainees will be treated as qualified teachers from the beginning. They will work under supervision at an appropriate level that is suitable to their stage of training.
What other routes are there into teaching?
There are several routes to gaining QTS, including through university study, school-led training, or charitable organisations like Teach First.
Find out more via Get Into Teaching.