School Direct Tuition and School Direct Salaried

Intro

All School Direct routes lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which will allow you to teach either primary or secondary age groups in England and Wales.

With the School Direct Tuition and School Direct Salaried programmes, you work at a school and attend training at the university. Over the course of the year you will have experience of teaching in two of the many schools with whom we have established partnerships.

School Direct allows schools to recruit and select trainees, with the expectation that they may then go on to work within the school or group of schools in which they were trained.

You will be mentored by a successful teaching team with an outstanding national reputation and comprehensive research profile that informs course content.

The University of Brighton is an outstanding provider of teacher training. We offer both School Direct Tuition and School Direct Salaried programmes in primary and secondary age phases.

Training bursaries and scholarships of up to £28,000 are available for certain subjects on School Direct Tuition programmes with additional £10,000 early-career payments for those studying maths.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer and a host school

Full-time 1 year

Before starting this course you will need to have passed the Professional Skills Tests; if you have not already completed these you are advised to take them as soon as possible.

Find out more about School Direct and meet our partners at our train to teach event on Wednesday 15 May:

Book your open day place

Course content

Course structure

To train as a teacher through the School Direct programme you need to apply direct to a school for a School Direct training place. If the school you apply to is one of our School Direct partner schools, then we will provide the academic education to support you during your training.

Our School Direct routes offer two types of training programmes: School Direct Training and School Direct Salaried Training.

School Direct Training Programme

The School Direct Training Programme is open to all graduates and funded by tuition fees paid by the trainee, who may be eligible to receive a bursary from the Teaching Agency (TA).

Scholarships may also be available for candidates who wish to teach priority subjects, and these are awarded by the relevant subject associations through a competitive application process. Those following this School Direct Training Programme will be registered for and can gain a PGCE award from the University of Brighton.

School Direct Salaried Training Programme

The School Direct Salaried Training Programme is an employment based route into teaching for high quality graduates with three or more years' career experience. The trainee is employed as an unqualified teacher by the school.

If you are training to teach in a secondary school, the subjects you can train to teach through School Direct are:

High priority: physics, maths, computer science*, chemistry, modern languages
Other priority: biology, design and technology*, English, geography, primary – FS/KS1, primary – general
Other subjects: art and design, combined science, dance, PE, religious education.

*School Direct Salaried only

Areas of study

We offer programmes in both primary and secondary age phases.

The secondary subjects we offer are:

art and design
biology
chemistry
computer science*
dance
design and technology*
english
geography
mathematics
modern foreign languages
physical education
physics
religious education.

*School Direct Salaried only

Art secondary education student in an apron doing printing

Primary vacancies

The University of Brighton is partners with a large number of lead schools across Brighton & Hove, Sussex and beyond for School Direct. School Direct places are allocated to lead schools, however as schools largely work in alliances/clusters the placement may not be in the lead school.

Please see below our current primary vacancies.

Lead School/Alliance	Subject	Tuition Vacancies	Salaried Vacancies
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Primary	Yes
Chailey School	Primary	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Primary	Yes
Millais Alliance	Primary	Yes
Tandridge Teaching Alliance	Primary	Yes
Teaching School Alliance 24	Primary	Yes
Thames Teaching Alliance	Primary		Yes
Torfield School	Primary	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Primary		Yes

Secondary vacancies

The University of Brighton is in partnership with a large number of lead schools across Brighton & Hove, Sussex and beyond for School Direct. School Direct places are allocated to lead schools however as schools largely work in alliances/ clusters the placement may not be in the lead school.

Below are the current secondary vacancies which can be applied for through UCAS teacher Training with the University of Brighton as the accrediting training provider.

Lead School/Alliance	Subject	Tuition Vacancies	Salaried Vacancies
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
Millais Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
Oriel School	Art and Design	Yes
Portsmouth Teaching School Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Art and Design	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Art and Design	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Art and Design	Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Biology	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Biology	Yes
Millais Alliance	Biology	Yes
Oriel School	Biology	Yes	Yes
Torfield School	Biology	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Biology	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Biology	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Biology	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Biology	Yes	Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Chemistry	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Chemistry	Yes
Millais Alliance	Chemistry	Yes
Oriel School	Chemistry	Yes	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Chemistry	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Chemistry	Yes	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Chemistry	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Chemistry	Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Computer Science		Yes
Oriel School	Computer Science		Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Computer Science		Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Computer Science		Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Dance	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Dance	Yes
Millais Alliance	Dance	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Dance	Yes
Millais Alliance	Design and Technology		Yes
Oriel School	Design and Technology		Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Design and Technology		Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Design and Technology		Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	English	Yes
Chailey School	English	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	English	Yes
Millais Alliance	English	Yes
Oriel School	English	Yes	Yes
Torfield School	English	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	English	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	English	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	English	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	English		Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Geography	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Geography	Yes
Millais Alliance	Geography	Yes
Oriel School	Geography	Yes	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Geography	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Geography	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Geography	Yes
Oriel School	History		Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	History		Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Mathematics	Yes	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Mathematics	Yes
Millais Alliance	Mathematics	Yes
Oriel School	Mathematics	Yes	Yes
Torfield School	Mathematics	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Mathematics	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Mathematics	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Mathematics	Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Modern Languages	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Modern Languages	Yes
Millais Alliance	Modern Languages	Yes
Oriel School	Modern Languages	Yes	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Modern Languages	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Modern Languages	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Modern Languages	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Modern Languages	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Music		Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Physical Education	Yes
Chailey School	Physical Education	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Physical Education	Yes
Millais Alliance	Physical Education	Yes
Oriel School	Physical Education	Yes
Peacehaven Community School (via Westlands Teaching School Alliance)	Physical Education	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Physical Education	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Physics	Yes
Millais Alliance	Physics	Yes
Oriel School	Physics	Yes	Yes
University of Brighton Academies Trust	Physics	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Physics	Yes	Yes
Wealden Partnership	Physics	Yes
Westlands Teaching School Alliance	Physics	Yes	Yes
Millais Alliance	Physics with Mathematics	Yes
Oriel School	Physics with Mathematics	Yes	Yes
Valley Invicta Teaching School Alliance	Physics with Mathematics	Yes
Brighton, Hove and Sussex Schools Alliance	Religious Studies	Yes
Eastbourne Area School Direct Alliance	Religious Studies	Yes
Millais Alliance	Religious Studies	Yes
Oriel School	Religious Studies	Yes	Yes

Ofsted

In our most recent Initial Teacher Education inspection report, the University of Brighton was graded 'outstanding'.

Ofsted identified some of our key strengths as:

the very high attainment of the majority of trainees
the expertly designed and diverse range of programmes that respond to trainees' backgrounds, needs and interests as well as to national priorities
the outstanding progress made by trainees as a result of training, which enables them to fulfil their potential
inspirational teaching, tutoring and mentoring that model the best teaching and give trainees the ambition to reach the highest standards
highly reflective trainees who demonstrate good subject knowledge and a breadth of understanding of how to teach
an excellent range of training experiences that effectively prepare trainees to teach in a diverse society
the excellent resources available to trainees
leadership that is dynamic in its approach to anticipating change and solving problems
a visionary approach to innovation and change.

Professional Skills Tests

Support for the skills tests

You have to pass the professional skills tests before you begin your teacher training. The University of Brighton recognises that these tests may present a challenge to some candidates and hope these support materials will help you to be fully prepared before attempting them.

Department for Education Practise Materials – You will find a range of support materials on this official site, including online tests.

Passing the Numeracy Skills Test – Book by Mark Patmore, including one practice test . Published February 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1526419231

How to Pass the QTS Numeracy and Literacy Skills Tests: Essential Practice for the Qualified Teacher Status Skills Tests - Book by Chris John Tyreman. Published July 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0749478292

Careers

Career prospects are very good. School Direct aims to give schools the opportunity to recruit and select the trainees that best meet their needs, with the expectation that those teachers may go on to work in the school or group of schools in which they trained.

If you are considering whether a career in teaching is for you, and you are a UK resident, the Department for Education’s School Experience Programme (SEP) offers 1 to 10 days’ classroom experience in a secondary school. For details, please check: www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/school-experience.aspx

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

We are actively seeking to recruit candidates with the capacity to become outstanding teachers to our highly successful School Direct routes. In order to realise your potential over these intensive programmes you are greatly advantaged if you can demonstrate the following characteristics through your application:

Degree
Normally an honours degree, or equivalent qualification, in the subject specialism or a subject that is directly relevant.

Experience
A realistic awareness of the teaching profession with the capacity to thrive in a demanding and fast moving environment. When applying, please use your personal statement to illustrate this.

GCSE (minimum grade C or grade 4)
At least English language and mathematics (and a science for primary applications). In-house equivalence tests are available for suitable candidates.

Professional Skills Tests 

You have to pass the professional skills tests in numeracy and literacy before you begin your teacher training. These tests are compulsory and it will not be possible to enter training without having successfully completed them. You are able to book these tests in advance. The Department for Education (DfE) strongly advises you to take the tests soon after you have submitted an application.

As of February 2018 new changes to these tests means that you can make unlimited attempts and the first three attempts are free of charge. The DfE has also removed the lock-out period that previously prevented you from re-taking tests for two years.

You do not need to have completed these tests prior to making an application or attending an interview however your offer will be subject to successful completion.

The University of Brighton recognises that these tests may present a challenge to some candidates and we recommend that you prepare before attempting them.

Find out more about the tests including how to register and prepare on the DfE website.

Selection

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview in person at the Falmer campus where we have a number of structured activities aimed at allowing you to show your potential. You will also be interviewed by the school to which you have applied.

All offers of places are subject to required regulatory checks including an occupational health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced check.

Fees

Course fees

School Direct Tuition fees are detailed below.

UK/EU (full-time) 9,250 GBP

Island students (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 13,920 GBP

There are no fees payable for School Direct Salaried programmes.

Bursaries and funding

Generous, tax-free funding is available to the best graduates training in a range of subjects. You could get up to £28,000 tax-free while you train, either as a bursary or prestigious scholarship. Early-career payments are also on offer for those choosing mathematics.Your eligibility for financial support, and the amount you can expect to receive, will depend on the subject you choose to teach and your degree classification or highest relevant academic qualification.

In addition, a small number of discretionary bursaries may be awarded to trainees who we identify as having outstanding potential, and who fall within the bottom and middle tier for core bursary payment purposes.

You don’t need to apply for a bursary – if you are enrolled on a non-salaried postgraduate course and meet the eligibility criteria, you will begin receiving payments automatically by your chosen teacher training provider. You will receive more information on the arrangements and how this is distributed prior to the start of your course.

Find out more about funding.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Education are listed here.

You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget approximately £30 for printing.
For courses which require a placement, you’ll be expected to pay for your travel expenses but you may be able to claim some travel costs back from the university, depending on where your placement is in relation to where you live.
Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £150 to buy your own copies
You may wish to consider budgeting up to £25 for stationery/teaching materials

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Location

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city's reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy, as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Science Festival, the London to Brighton bike ride, and the Great Escape festival of new music to name but a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from Brighton city centre. 7,000 students are based here taking subjects including criminology, English, education, nursing and medicine, paramedic science, psychology and sociology. Brighton and Hove Albion's Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources and clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students. Psychology students learn in our applied cognition and flexible creative method labs.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant, cafes, and a students' union shop and bar.

The campus sports centre has a fitness suite, activity studios and a sports hall. There is also a floodlit astroturf football pitch, netball and tennis courts.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre and there is a BTN BikeShare hub on site. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine minute journey to central Brighton.

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Newly refurbished atrium in the Checkland Building

Accommodation

Brighton: Falmer

Looking for clearing accommodation? Accommodation is available, we can help you find your home from home.

All eligible students applying for 2020 are guaranteed an offer of university-managed accommodation.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
Falmer campus is linked to the halls on Falmer campus and at Varley Park.
- Paddock Field and Great Wilkins halls are on Falmer campus and offer a range of room types and catering options
- Varley Park offers a mix of room and catering options. Varley Park is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre. Public transport in the city is excellent, and there's a shuttle bus between our Brighton campuses during term time.

Unihomes and unilets
Unihomes and unilets are student houses that we let to our students on behalf of private landlords. This option can work particularly well when you're balancing learning with placements and other commitments. We have unihomes and unilet properties across the city.

Starting in 2019 and looking for accommodation advice? Find out more about our accommodation options.

Private renting
There's plenty of support if you opt for private rented accommodation. This is an option which offers choice and flexibility – enabling you to choose where you live and who with. We manage our own studenthomes database of properties. This lists accommodation offered by landlords who have signed up to our code of standards. Every summer we provide online events and resources, as well as other advice services, for students looking for a place to live and people to share with.