The aim of this blog is to help you to decide whether the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship is the right route for you. Hayley leads on NITE's Primary undergraduate initial teacher training courses. She joined NITE with over 15 years of experience in primary education as teacher, leader and SENDCo.
A new opportunity
The Teacher Degree Apprenticeship offers the opportunity to train and qualify as a teacher with QTS, while you take your degree. Apprentices earn a salary while on course and the course fees are covered by the employer’s apprenticeship levy. It is an attractive alternative to a traditional campus-based BA degree followed by a PGCE, with all the expense and debt that entails.
This was a new route in 2025, and our first cohort started in September 2025. This year, we received over 600 applications for our September 2026 cohort. However, many of these applicants will be disappointed, because they did not meet all the entry criteria.
So, to avoid disappointment, please check that you can meet not just the academic requirements but also the employment and apprenticeship requirements.
Employment requirements
Before you can consider applying for our Teacher Degree Apprenticeship with a BA (Hons) in Primary Education you must have a school ready to contract you as an Unqualified Teacher for the full duration of the course. If you are already working in a school, perhaps as a teaching assistant or cover supervisor, you cannot continue the same contract while you are on course. This is because the apprenticeship regulations for the standard require you to be employed as an unqualified teacher.
If you are working in a school, your first step must be to speak to management about your wish to do this apprenticeship. There are also requirements of the school, so please ask them to contact us for more information.
NITE cannot source employment for you to complete this apprenticeship. So, if you are not already employed in a school, you will need to find employment and have secured the support of your school before you can apply. A few schools and trusts are starting to advertise apprenticeship opportunities, so it could be worth keeping an eye open for any in your area.
GCSEs
The DfE requires that all applicants to courses offering QTS hold GSCEs in English, maths and, for primary, a science at a minimum of Grade 4 /C. The science can be a single subject or combined. Functional skills qualifications are not accepted. If you don’t have the qualifications or grades, you can take equivalency tests with one of our two approved providers. But don’t leave this to the last minute!
UCAS points
You must hold A Levels, or other Level 3 qualifications that equate to a minimum of 104 UCAS points. There are a huge number of different qualifications that provide UCAS points, so make sure you check any music or sporting qualifications you have. Please use the UCAS points calculator, this is the reference we will use when checking your eligibility.
This is a bachelor’s degree course, even though it is an apprenticeship, so we need to be sure that you are ready to start on Level 4 academic work.
If you hold Level 4 or Level 5 qualifications these will not register on the UCAS calculator. They will usually make you eligible, but we cannot reduce the duration of the apprenticeship.
The reality of balancing work and study
The Teacher Degree Apprenticeship is an incredible opportunity, but it is important to understand the commitment involved. You will be working towards a full BA degree while undertaking a full-time classroom role as an unqualified teacher. Teaching is both physically and mentally demanding, and your responsibilities will often extend beyond the school day through planning, preparation, assessment and other professional commitments. We will provide a range of support once you are on the programme to help you succeed, but we want you to have a realistic understanding of the workload before you apply, so that the demands of balancing study and teaching, along with the rest of your life, do not come as a surprise.
Qualifications from outside the UK
If you took any of your required qualifications outside the UK, you will also need to submit an official comparability statement for non-UK qualifications assessed by UK ENIC. There is a cost for this, and the process can take a few weeks, so please don’t leave it to the last minute. If English is not your first language, you will also need to hold an academic IELTS which is less than three years old, with a score of at least 7 overall with no component less than 6.5, or TOEFL 600.
Other requirements
There are also additional rules that apply specifically to apprenticeships. You can normally only do a teacher degree apprenticeship (TDA) if you have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years or more. There are some exceptions to this. For example, if you have applied to the Afghan or Ukraine resettlement schemes. Please see the Apprenticeship funding rules if you think this applied to you.
If you are already doing another apprenticeship, you must complete this before you can apply.
What about my experience?
You may have years of school experience, but we cannot accept this in lieu of Level 3 qualifications. We need to be sure that you will be able to meet the academic challenge of a bachelor’s degree course. You will have the opportunity to tell us about your experience in your personal statement and interview, but if you have insufficient UCAS points you will not be eligible. However, if you have almost 104 points, meet all other criteria, and your school is ready to nominate you, then please do apply.
If you don’t meet these requirements…Don’t panic! There are other options.
BA in Primary Education
If you like the idea of school-based training, you can take the BA (Hons) in Primary Education degree with us and pay the tuition-fees through Student Finance. If you are eligible, you can also apply for a maintenance loan to help with living expenses. You will still need to find a school willing to support you, but you would be in school with them for 2.5 to 4 days a week as an unsalaried student, with one day a week for your university learning. The school will still need to provide you with a mentor and classroom and teaching experience, but they will gain capacity and can support the development of a new teacher. Schools are more likely to consider this if they know you, so offering some voluntary work before you apply could be useful.
Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship with Foundation Degree in Professional Practice
If you don’t have sufficient Level 3 qualifications or your employing school is not able to support you with a new contract as an unqualified teacher, this Level 5 apprenticeship could be an alternative. It can be completed in two years on a TA contract which makes it more accessible to many schools. You still need the maths and English GCSE grades and some Level 3 qualifications, but as it is not a Level 6 degree course there is no UCAS points cut off. We just ask that the qualifications offered are relevant to teaching and education and are credit bearing. If you aren’t sure if yours have credits, look at your certificate. The number of Level 3 credits will be included.
If you do successfully graduate from this apprenticeship, you will be eligible to apply to join the final phase of the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship which, with your employer’s continuing support, will enable you complete the full BA degree and achieve QTS. It will take somewhat longer, but this pathway will take you to QTS.
Still have questions?
We hold regular information webinars, that are an opportunity to find out more about these courses. The presenters will cover the most frequently asked questions, but if you have others, you will have the opportunity to ask our team.
If you have general questions about getting into teaching, if you have not already done so, then please visit the DfE’s Get Into Teaching website.
