School direct type training and funding

[hmmwhatatodo]

Hi

I’m looking into teacher training on the job, salaries positions are hard to come by and I’m wondering how people manage on unsalaried positions which are generally easier to get a place on. You are classed as a full time student, has anyone with a family done this? How do you fund your rent/food/living costs? Are there any benefits you can claim while being a full time student if you have children? I know you can get a discount on council tax and help with housing costs but I’m not sure about tax credits and the likes if you aren’t working.

Thanks in advance.

What type of position are you aiming for? With some subjects at secondary there are pretty hefty bursaries which means it’s actually better money-wise to do a PGCE.

As noblegiraffe says I found it better to go down the unsalaried schools direct route. However I am doing Secondary maths so get a good scholarship (and I also got a decent redundancy from a previous job so would have paid more tax). There are loans available for the tuition fees so there is no need to pay them upfront. If you are the only adult in the house, you should not pay council tax. I'm not sure about the situation for tax credits etc.

Didn't look at the salaried route in much depth but it seemed like they wanted people who were already working in schools as cover supervisors etc so would be able to hit the ground running with a pretty full timetable. There seem to be lots of adverts for unqualified 'paid graduate assistants at the moment so that may be a way in, but I'm doing maths in the South East so there may be more of a shortage than in other places/subjects. Good luck with the applications.

Thanks for replying. Yes, most of the bursaries are aimed at certain secondary subjects. ‘Unfortunately’ I’m looking at primary (and I don’t have maths A Level) which would help me with funding if I did a pgce with maths specialism. There are no bursaries for run of the mill primary that I can see. Some schools make an offer (between £2k and 9k) but it isn’t doable to live on such a small amount for a year. The idea of being in debt to cover living costs for a year doesn’t appeal and financially wouldn’t make sense for me. I was hoping other people might have been in the same situation and could advise.