Deciding on teacher training courses can be confusing when there are so many routes available. The decision on whether to apply for a salaried place and earn an unqualified teacher’s salary, or a bursary place receiving a government grant (amount varies depending on what subject you want to teach), can be especially tricky. Chemistry trainees Lucy and Malika from Paddington Academy told us why they decided to choose the bursary route.

Lucy: For science, the bursary route is very generous therefore this financially made sense for me as a science trainee teacher. In addition, for the bursary route you start off on a lower timetable (around 30-40%) which you gradually build up over the year, compared to the salaried where you start of at a 60-80% timetable. I thought this reduced timetable at the start would give me more time to focus on my training and adapting to being a new teacher. 

Malika: I didn’t have the experience to take the salaried route, but it actually worked in my favour to take the bursary route. By doing Chemistry it gave me a bursary of £26,000, which funded me better for the year than the salaried route.

Lucy: One of the main benefits of the bursary route has definitely been the reduced timetable. It meant that I had free periods to observe other teachers, thoroughly plan my lessons and take time to reflect on my practice and training. 

Malika: It has also been really beneficial to be able to focus on my studies without the worry of financial hardship. To people who are unsure whether to take the bursary route, I would say weigh up both options and decide with one is financially more suited to your current situation.

Lucy: In addition, consider how you would find going into a fuller timetable at the start of your training. If you are a Maths, Science, MFL or Computing trainee I would especially recommend the generous bursary option. 

Find out more about bursaries and scholarships here.