New 1000 bursaries for trainee teachers at the University of Portsmouth

It is hoped that this financial support will help address the shortfall in government funding being made available for Primary or English PGCE’s and enable more students to teach in these areas. 

Andrew Porter, Director of Initial Teacher Training at the University of Portsmouth, said: “We know it can be hard to commit to a course when there is no government bursary, so we are funding this financial support to ensure we can recruit the best teachers into the profession. No other teacher training provider in the area can make such a generous offer.”

Liberty Bourke is due to start a PGCE Primary course at the University in September. Liberty said: “The bursary takes off the financial stress and gives me some more disposable income. It provides added motivation - it’s like a thank you for all your hard work.”

The bursary will be paid automatically to all students who start PGCE Primary or PGCE Secondary English in September 2022, with payment made in 3 instalments – one instalment in each school term.

A wide range of ITT courses from primary and secondary school teacher training to further education teacher training, all of which are rated ‘good’ or 'outstanding' by Ofsted are offered at the University. Students are given hands-on experience through placements, thanks to over 150 well-established partnerships with schools and colleges across the South of England, providing them with the skills and knowledge to become a teacher.

The University of Portsmouth was also recently re-accredited by the Department of Education to deliver initial teacher training (ITT) under the UK Government’s new framework from 2024 - one of only 80 providers to be approved in the first round.

Students keen to find out more can visit the teacher training and funding webpages, or get in touch with the team at teachertraining@port.ac.uk.