Secondary Courses

OTT SCITT courses are carefully crafted to give you the best of in-school experience alongside theory, pedagogy and subject knowledge training at one of our training hubs. Our Associate Teachers (what we call our trainees) thrive on both our full-time and part-time courses and this is reflected in our exceptional post-training employment rates, as Headteachers recognise the high-quality training and preparation we offer.

For the secondary age range, we offer courses across most secondary subject options. As you will see from the table below the majority of courses are designated as 11-16, and for these courses that is the age range that most of your training will cover, however for all of these courses you will also be able to develop your understanding and teaching experience of A-level teaching too, should you wish to. Other courses are designated specifically as 14-19 as they are subjects which do not generally have teaching at Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14), but again you will also have opportunities to experience teaching within your school departments at this age range.

Please click on the course name to see further detail about each specific, available course.

For all courses you have the option of QTS only (Qualified Teacher Status) or QTS and PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) and for most courses you can also opt to complete your training part-time, which is 3 days a week over a 16 month period.

You are able to apply for more than one course/ route in your application, so you may want to choose a variety options or to decide from the outset which route will be best for you. When we invite you to interview we will ask you what your current preferred choice is, and we can discuss your options and suitability individually if needed.

Please see the sections below for further details about the different course structures to help you with your decisions.

• course runs from 2nd September 2024 – 2nd July 2025
• attendance is Monday-Friday and you will need to plan for timings of 8am-4pm in school and 9-3.30 for training days (exact timings may vary depending on school hours)
• pre-course training and induction days on Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Friday 19 July, 2024
• start in your main placement school in September, attending INSET days with your colleagues
• intensive ‘front loaded’ course, with 2 days a week of curriculum training sessions and 3 days in placement in September and October, moving to 1 day a week of training sessions and 4 days a week in placement from November
• a block first and second placement structure i.e. an ‘A – B’ pattern, with almost equal length of time in each
• develop skills through a carefully crafted and sequenced curriculum, complemented by structured classroom experience, to take on whole class teaching at a gradual pace
• ongoing central and subject specialist training throughout the year
• exceptional support from placement schools and central SCITT team
• tuition fees for the full-time courses are £8,150 for QTS, or £9,250 for QTS and PGCE (i.e. additional PGCE cost of £1,100 should you choose this option)
• most applicants will be eligible to take out a student loan through Student Finance England to cover the tuition fees (regardless of prior loans and study) and maintenance loans are also available for most applicants and in some cases you may be eligible for further support grants from SFE, such as childcare grants if you are a parent
• some subjects also attract a national bursary or scholarship more details can be found below and on our FAQ page
• we would strongly advise that you check your eligibility and use the SFE calculator to estimate the loans/ grants available to you in advance of submitting your application

• course runs from 2nd September 2024 – 20th December 2025, i.e. a full academic year in year 1, then September-December in year 2, enabling you to take up a qualified teacher post from the January after your second year
• regular attendance of 3 days per week, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday throughout the year and you will need to plan for timings of 8am-4pm in school and 9-3.30 for training days (exact timings may vary depending on school hours)
• pre-course training and induction days on Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Friday 19 July, 2024
• start in your main placement school in September, attending INSET days with your colleagues
• intensive ‘front loaded’ course, with 2 days a week of curriculum training sessions and 1 day in placement in September and October, moving to 1 day a week of training sessions and 2 days a week in placement from November for the rest of year 1. In year 2 you will be almost entirely in your second placement.
• a block first and second placement structure i.e. an ‘A – B’ pattern
• develop skills and take on whole class teaching at a gradual pace
• ongoing central and subject specialist training throughout the 16 month course
• exceptional support from placement schools and central SCITT team
• tuition fees for the part-time courses are £10,300 for QTS, or £11,500 for QTS and PGCE (i.e. additional PGCE cost +of £1,200 should you choose this option), for the part-time route you pay £6935 in year one and the remainder in year two
• most applicants will be eligible to take out a student loan through Student Finance England to cover the tuition fees (regardless of prior loans and study) and maintenance loans are also available for most applicants and in some cases you may be eligible for further support grants from SFE, such as childcare grants if you are a parent
• some subjects also attract a national bursary or scholarship more details can be found below and on our FAQ page
• we would strongly advise that you check your eligibility and use the SFE calculator to estimate the loans/ grants available to you in advance of submitting your application

All of our courses lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and all Associate Teachers have the option of adding a master’s level PGCE qualification to their programme. QTS is known as the ‘professional award’ and is the designation that schools expect applicants for teaching jobs to have. A PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) is an ‘academic qualification’. A PGCE qualification is not required to be a teacher in this country.

The PGCE element that we offer is accredited by a local partner University, it does not have additional training sessions as everything will be covered in the sessions that are delivered as part of our integrated curriculum, and in your own independent academic reading and research.

The PGCE is a Master’s level qualification and is assessed through 3 written assignments. Each assignment draws on relevant educational research and is designed to inform the classroom practice of the individual Associate Teacher.

Each year around half of our Associate Teachers undertake this additional element in their training year, whilst others focus solely on their QTS programme. It is increasingly common for people who have gained QTS to undertake a PGCE further into their career and there are lots of options nationally for people who have already gained QTS to undertake the PGCE in subsequent years, so you do not need to worry about the PGCE being ‘now or never’!

The final decision about undertaking the PGCE element will be an individual one and does not have to be made until your induction in July, when you will have the opportunity to find out more about the specific details and ask questions prior to making the final decision. Please note that taking the PGCE means you will pay a slightly higher fee, to cover the additional qualification, as detailed in the sections above.

In some secondary subjects you may also be eligible for a bursary or scholarship. The funding is a tax-free training grant which you will receive if you meet the criteria and are training in an eligible subject, you can receive the bursary in addition to taking out a loan. Eligibility is dependent on the subject you are training to teach (not the subject of your degree), you must also hold an undergraduate degree of a 2:2, 2:1 or 1st, or have a Masters or PhD.

For courses starting in September 2024 the following bursaries are available:

• £28,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics
• £25,000 in biology, design and technology, geography and languages
• £10,000 in art and design, English, music and RE

At OTT SCITT, we truly believe that teaching is the most rewarding profession in the world and we are proud to have designed an innovative programme that supports you to develop the skills and confidence to fulfil your ambition of teaching. When you train with us you will benefit from an incredibly well thought out programme with a carefully sequenced integrated curriculum.

We divide the training programme into three distinct phases: The Early Phase, The Middle Phase and The Late Phase. The phases of the programme are designed to set out the expectations, guidance and common themes that occur at particular points while training to teach, in order to support your journey from novice to expert!