School Direct is an exciting programme that enables you to work within a school and train in the classroom supported by qualified teachers and mentors. The intention of the programme is for schools to recruit and educate candidates in subject and age phases most in need of employment, allowing School Direct Alliances to tailor the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme to the needs of the schools, staff, children and families within the communities they serve. The programme is delivered in partnership with the University which means your training is delivered by both your School Alliance and the University of Chester; during the programme you will spend a number of days studying at University of Chester as you progress towards Masters level credits in addition to the training and school experiences provided to you through your Alliance. On successful conclusion of the School Direct programme you will be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
The School Direct route offers high quality, personalised teacher training. Trainees, or Associate Teachers as we prefer new participants to be called, will experience the very best of teaching and learning, whilst also being given the opportunity to experience teaching in a range of different educational settings.
School Direct offers training to teach in Early Years, Primary and Secondary phases. Your placement will be in one of your alliance’s Schools; this allows Associate Teachers to have greater input into the nature and location of their placement schools and your alliance will work with you to provide an individualised plan for your training based upon your circumstances and careers goals. Throughout the placement, you will experience a minimum of two different placement settings, therefore, it is important that you are willing and able to travel to different schools within the Alliance, enabling you to experience schools of contrasting natures. You will also gain 6th form, Primary/Secondary and SEND experience as appropriate to your specialist subject and/or phase.
Location
The University of Chester works in partnership with School Direct alliances across a wide range of locations including Chester, Liverpool, Wirral, Warrington, Telford and Shrewsbury. For a full list of our partners please see our School Direct Partners Page.
Employment Rates
Many of our School Direct alliances are proud to have well above average employment rates for their Associate Teachers, many of whom secure positions within the Trust or Partner Schools in which they trained before the end of the course each year, and an increasing number of our alumni remain in their Alliance schools, progressing to middle and senior leader roles
Fees and Qualifications
School Direct partnerships with the University of Chester are open to all graduates and funded by tuition fees paid by the candidate. All School Direct places will lead to qualified teacher status (QTS) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) validated by the University.
Bursaries and Scholarships may be available for some subject areas. For details and eligibility requirement for the bursaries and scholarships currently available as well as please see our Bursaries and Scholarships page.
Applications
Applications for School Direct are made directly to the School Alliance you wish to train with. You can find out more about each University of Chester partnership alliance through our dedicated School Direct Partners webpage. Applications for all Initial Teacher Training programmes are made through the Department for Education’s Apply for Teacher Training website.