Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many service leavers have (a) applied to and (b) been accepted on the Troops to Teachers programme to date.

David Laws

The Troops to Teachers undergraduate programme is a brand new programme, which started in January 2014. It provides a route into teaching for non-graduates with relevant skills and experience. It is a school-based two year programme, at the end of which service leavers will have both a degree and Qualified Teacher Status.

982 service leavers submitted an initial application to cohort 1 of the new undergraduate Troops to Teachers programme. 332 of these applications went forward to be considered by the initial teacher training provider, which is the normal first stage for initial teacher training applications. 41 service leavers joined the Troops to Teachers programme in January 2014.

These figures represent only the first cohort of Troops to Teachers trainees. We are looking forward to more service leavers joining the programme this September.