Nominate talented individuals to become teachers 

Whether it’s a member of support staff, a school governor, mentor or a former member of staff, schools can nominate brilliant individuals known to the school for our Training Programme. This means the nominee will train as a teacher at your school for two years. 

Retain talented colleagues

This gives your school the opportunity to retain current or former members of staff. Your school won’t lose a valued team member. Your staff member will train on the job, in your school. They'll develop leadership skills that will make your team even stronger.

Stay on top of recruitment

You know best who is the right fit for your school. Nothing proves ability more than day-to-day performance, so a headteacher can always spot a staff member with high potential. That’s why we leave it up to you to nominate staff who have what it takes for our Training Programme.

New teachers who hit the ground running

The individual will know your school well. Your school’s policies, pupils and local community are already second nature. And on-the-job training means that your nominated trainee will achieve qualified teacher status and complete their PGCE on our Training Programme after just one year, and develop their leadership skills in year two.

Top-class teacher education

We studied the best teacher education practices from across the globe when designing our Training Programme – Ofsted rates it "Outstanding" in 41 out of 48 categories. Our Training Programme Nomination route doesn’t just make it possible for individuals to qualify as a teacher – it allows them to qualify with world-class teacher training and support.

Good for your budget and your staff

Schools only pay a small portion of the training costs for our Training Programme for their support staff or nominated trainees. You’ll pay a salary to the trainee who’ll earn from day one so that they can focus fully on the training.

High-quality on-the-job training in the school you know

You’ll be staying in the school you know, but your career will be going places.

Our Training Programme offers world-class teacher training and leadership development, and when your headteacher nominates you through us, it means you can undertake it at your own school.

You’ll spend some time at conferences, on training days and experiencing other schools, but your training will be in a familiar setting.

Receive an offer for our Training Programme

Your headteacher’s confidence in your ability means you’ll accelerate through our application process. 

Once we’ve accepted your nomination, we’ll be in touch to register you and give you access to onboarding tasks, including a subject knowledge assessment.

When you’ve successfully completed these tasks, we’ll sort the rest with your school.

You’ll have a dedicated recruiter to support you in getting ready for your training.

Need more information?

Watch our latest webinar for more information about the Training Programme Nomination route.

Training Programme Nomination is a route onto our Training Programme that gives talented support staff and individuals known to the school an offer to begin the programme, subject to meeting our requirements. Once they've been nominated by their headteacher, and they’ve successfully completed the onboarding tasks, the individual joins the next Teach First cohort. They’ll then complete training in the school they currently work in.

Here’s an overview of how our Training Programme works:

The first year

From day one in the classroom, trainees start with a reduced timetable (60% for Primary and Early Years, 80% for Secondary). Plus, they’ll earn at least the basic salary for an unqualified teacher.

Alongside working in school they’ll attend teacher training days and conferences run by us and our partner universities. They’ll build knowledge of teaching theory, get more practical training and, no doubt, swap lots of stories with other trainees. Throughout the programme they’ll be supported, trained and assessed by a Teach First expert, a mentor at their school and a university tutor.

All being well, by the end of the year they’ll achieve qualified teacher status (QTS) and have completed their postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). 

Teach First’s Training Programme Nomination was the perfect route as it meant I didn’t have to leave my school and colleagues, and I’d also have a salary as I trained.

- Zara Kirkpatrick, Teach First trainee teacher, Carlton Bolling College, Bradford

The summer holidays

During the Summer Holidays they have the option of taking a work placement with a supporter organisation such as Accenture, The Bright Ideas Challenge, Citi and many, many more. Such placements can help them broaden their experience and develop skills that will prove useful in the classroom.

The second year

Now an early career teacher (ECT), salaries go up to between £30,000 (England, non-London) and £36,745 (inner London) depending on where their school is. They’ll also be teaching a full timetable and starting to build leadership credentials by taking on responsibilities such as:

• Becoming a subject or year leader.
• Mentoring pupils as they think about what to do after school.
• Running a club that helps pupils aim higher and achieve more.

During the year they’ll complete 36 hours of leadership content that will focus on day-to-day classroom practice, giving trainees the chance to make use of it straight away. And we’ll still be there supporting them alongside the school, through training days, conferences and one-to-one support.

After the training programme

Having a PGCE means they’ll have 60 credits that can be put towards a master's degree, which they can choose to complete after they complete the Training Programme. It’ll develop their teaching and leadership abilities, particularly around pupils from disadvantaged communities, and give them greater insights into your school. 

On top of that, they’ll be a Teach First ambassador and part of our ambassador network. That means they’ll be connected to thousands of others who’ve been through the programme and are trying to create a fairer education system. They’re a close-knit, supportive bunch and they’re always happy to help.

Need more information?

Watch our latest webinar for more information about the Training Programme Nomination route.

These are the costs for Training Programme Nomination trainees starting in September 2025.

Your trainee’s salary

Your school pays their teaching salary for a minimum of two years. In year one, they’re paid within the unqualified teacher pay range of the pay salary scale: 

• A minimum of point 1 (early years and primary school trainees)
• A minimum of point 2 (non-shortage subject secondary school trainees)
• A minimum of point 3 (maths, science and MFL secondary school trainees).

In year two this rises to the salary for an early career teacher (ECT), which varies depending on location.  

Mentoring grant for year one

To fund the work of a mentor for each trainee in your school, we pay your school a grant of £2,400 per trainee.

Teach First’s school fees

The government funds most of our recruitment and training costs. But we ask your school to contribute as well. This varies for different school phases and locations.

Early years and primary schools

• Fees for all primary schools: £2,400 in year one, £1,600 in year two.

Secondary schools

• Non-shortage subjects (those not listed below): £4,560 in year one, £5,700 in year two.
• Modern foreign languages: £5,025 in year one, £6,700 in year two.
• Maths, physics, chemistry, biology, computing​: £4,900 in year one, £7,000 in year two.

Need more information?

Frequently Asked Questions

Get in touch now.

Before a headteacher makes a nomination, there are a few things to bear in mind.

Firstly, your school must be:

• committed to offering the staff member employment as a teacher for two years
• prepared to give days off for training. This includes time off for the staff member to attend school-centred learning at a contrasting school. This compulsory training takes place at the beginning of the programme, i.e. either at the end of the Summer term or during the first half of the Autumn term.

Secondly, the nominee must:

• be a current or former teaching assistant, higher-level teaching assistant, cover supervisor, lab technician or unqualified teacher or
• be an individual known to the school (e.g. governor, mentor, former staff member)
• have a 2.2 degree or above
• usually have a degree or an A-level (at grade B or higher) in the subject they’ll be teaching
• have GCSE grade C / 4 in maths and English
• for primary teaching, have grade C / 4 in one science subject

If you do not meet the GCSE requirements, please contact us to discuss your circumstances and equivalency testing.

You can get more information about eligibility requirements for your chosen subject.

Qualifying schools

We prioritise recruiting trainee teachers for schools in England that teach a high number of pupils from low-income backgrounds. 

Our criteria is agreed with the Department for Education (DfE) and used to identify schools that will benefit most from working with us. We use the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and Pupil Premium (PP) information for each school to guide us. 

This focuses on schools that are ranked in the top 70% most deprived areas (based on IDACI) and where the proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium is in the top 50% of all state-funded schools.  

We understand that no set of criteria is ever going to perfectly capture the many forms that deprivation can take, so if you think your school would benefit from our support but doesn’t match the standard eligibility criteria above, get in touch for a chat about your situation. You may also be able to access our range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes to help teachers develop in their roles.

What next?

If you think this sounds like just the opportunity you’ve been looking for, send this webpage on to your headteacher so they can put you forward for it.

If you’re a headteacher, take a look at our 'Nominate' tab to see how you can nominate your member of support staff or a talented individual.

Nomination process

If you have any questions about nominating a staff member for the Training Programme, please get in touch below: 

Enquire

Are you a member of staff interested in applying? Enquire now.