Funding to extend courses for teacher trainees who fail to qualify this year owing to the Covid crisis has been cut by a third, new guidance shows.

For a second year running, the Department for Education has said that trainees who are not on track to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS) by the summer will be able to resume their studies in the autumn.

However, the funding set aside for providers to “address the costs of course extensions” has been cut by a third, according to updated guidance published today.

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In 2019-20, course extension funding of £750 per trainee per month, up to a maximum of four months, was made available for initial teacher training (ITT) providers to continue training for “a small minority” of their cohort in the autumn term.

But in 2020-21, this allowance has been cut to £500 per trainee per month - also over a maximum of four months.

Covid disruption to teacher training

The amount of money set aside to support trainees during their extended courses is unchanged - at £1,300 per trainee per month, up to a maximum of five months.

James Noble-Rogers, executive director of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET), said: “While we would, of course, have preferred previous funding levels to have been maintained, we are nonetheless pleased that DfE has managed to secure some money to allow student teachers who, through no fault of their own, are not able to gain the experiences they need, to continue their ITE [initial teacher education] in 2021-22.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We are very grateful for the hard work of teachers, including trainees, during the pandemic.

“We understand the challenges the pandemic has posed to teacher training and we are pleased to be able to continue course extension funding for the ITT programme.”