apprenticeships | Schools Week

Most new apprentice teaching assistants are paid just £3.50

The vast majority of apprentice teaching assistants are being used as “cheap labour” for just £3.50 an hour, the union GMB has found. Analysis of 190 TA apprenticeship vacancies revealed that 143 (75 per cent) were advertised at the legal minimum wage for those in their first year of training. A TA apprenticeship is a […]

New ‘careers leader’ apprenticeship for school staff proposed

Middle leaders in schools could be trained to deliver careers advice through a proposed new apprenticeship. The teacher training charity Teach First has called for an “apprenticeship qualification” to give every school “a trained careers middle leader”. The role would involve developing and leading a “whole school strategy for careers and employability”, and the proposal […]

Government presses on with non-graduate teaching apprenticeship

Ministers are pressing ahead with proposals for an apprenticeship that would allow non-graduate teaching assistants to become qualified teachers, even though access to conventional teacher training would still be restricted to those with university degrees. Anne Milton (pictured), the minister for skills, has confirmed that the government is “developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship” that will […]

Private school with £35,000 yearly fees looks for £3.50-an-hour apprentice to tend grounds

A private school with annual fees of £35,000 is looking to take on a £3.50-an-hour apprentice to tend its grounds, in a move branded “a disgrace” by one of the UK’s largest trade unions for school support staff. Cheltenham College, an independent coeducational boarding school in Gloucestershire, advertised for an ‘apprentice groundsperson’ on the gov.uk […]

Four academies approved to hire pupils as apprentices and lend staff to train others

Four multi-academy trusts are gearing up to offer jobs to former pupils and send staff to train apprentices in other schools after successfully getting on to the new register of apprenticeship providers. The government last week published the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), a list of organisations eligible to deliver apprenticeship training. Nearly 2,000 […]

The schools’ guide to apprenticeship reforms is out – what does it mean for you?

Ahead of some major changes to the way apprenticeships are funded in May this year, the DfE have published the ‘Schools’ guide to apprenticeship reforms’, here’s our quick guide to what you need to know. What are the changes to apprenticeships this spring? As part of its ongoing reform programme for apprenticeships outlined in ‘English […]

Teaching apprenticeships: the new school direct?

Ministers are drawing up plans for an apprenticeship route into teaching that could replace current on-the-job training schemes, Schools Week has learned. Jonathan Slater (pictured), the Department for Education’s permanent secretary, told MPs on Monday that his department is creating a teaching apprenticeship to begin next year. Officials are considering how they can “tweak” existing […]