Shortening the minimum length of apprenticeships to eight months will give “the type of flexibility the teacher training sector has been asking for”, government has said. But officials are yet to confirm it will apply to the increasingly popular teaching course. As part of a package of apprenticeship reforms unveiled this week, ministers said they would shorten the minimum duration of such courses from 12 to eight months from September. The 12-month minimum has caused a headache for those delivering the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA), which was approved for delivery in 2017 and now accounts for 7 per cent of entrants into postgrad teacher training each year. Qualified teacher status is issued after nine months, as it would be on any other postgraduate teacher training course. And apprenticeship providers had reported that some apprentices dropped out after achieving QTS, but before completing their “end-point assessment”. Providers lose funding for non-completions Apprenticeship providers face losing at least 20 per cent of their funding per apprentice for each non-completion. This is because providers receive 80 per cent of their funding monthly over the term of a course, and the remainder once the apprentice has completed their training. Even for those who don’t drop out, providers have to carry on providing new training to apprentices who are essentially already qualified for the job they are going into. The Department for Education said shorter apprenticeships “will be possible from August this year, as we are reducing the minimum duration in legislation to eight months. “The flexibility will help employers get the skills they need, when they need them. “This is the type of flexibility the ITT sector has been asking for and we are committed to working with them on how this can help in teaching apprenticeships.” The DfE has not confirmed yet that it will shorten the length of the PGTA, but said it would “be setting out more details in due course”. ‘Very welcome, if overdue’ James Noble-Rogers, chief executive of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, said this was a “very welcome, if overdue, announcement [that] will help to resolve some of the logistical and financial issues that have until now bedevilled the PGTA.” James Noble Rogers Numbers entering teaching via the apprenticeship route, which is for existing graduates only, have soared. In 2019-20, there were 164 entrants, rising to 883 in 2021-22 and 958 in 2023-24. Numbers jumped this year to 1,488. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, the only years for which data is available, around 15 per cent of teacher apprentices dropped out before the end of their courses. However, this includes any trainees who dropped out before achieving QTS. A separate, new degree apprenticeship route into teaching will be trialled from September. It is open to non-graduates but lasts four years.