"Is there a student bursary?"

Yes. The SKE training bursary is a bursary from the DfE to support SKE students during their time on their course before ITT commences. The purpose of the training bursary is to allow students to study full time on their SKE course, with grant funding going towards things such as childcare costs or simply reducing the need to take up full time employment. 

During the 2024 - 25 academic year, eligible students are entitled to £175 training bursary per week, which is paid monthly in arrears. Largely speaking, if you have a degree classification of 2:2 or above (ENIC equivalent if your degree is not from the UK) and SKE has been made a condition of your offer, then you are eligible (There is more on eligibility below). 

If your degree is pending, we will need to hold back payment of your bursary until this has been confirmed in the summer, once you have your degree certificate or HEAR statement from the awarding university, stating the degree classification as being 2:2 or higher.

"What is the bursary payment process"

All SKE bursary payments are issued by the DfE in arrears – and depending on when you start in the month, this could mean you receive your first payment after between a 4 – 8 week wait.

The DfE accepts 1 SKE claim form per month, which is on the 10th of each month. Students are put onto the monthly claim form at the point their ITT provider has verified the SKE application details submitted to us. E.g. If a student’s application details are verified by 11th of November 2024, they will go onto the December 2024 claim form, submitted to DfE on 10th Dec 2024. 

The time taken for DfE to process and approve a claim then raise a PO for us to invoice against, will likely take approximately 2 weeks. It will take a further 5-10 days for an invoice to be raised and payment to reach our account.   

Once the funds clear into our account, we endeavour to forward this onto eligible students as quickly as we can. Please note that payment is only made if you are engaging with the course, if, for any reason, you are not engaging the payments will be withheld until engagement resumes.

In the above example, a student starting their SKE course between 11th November 2024 and 10th December 2024, whose claim is submitted by us to DfE on 10th December 2024 will likely receive their first bursary payment on 15th January 2025

Once we are in receipt of your payment schedule from the DfE we will endeavour to share this with you to allow you to plan your finances.

"What is the eligibility requirement for the training bursary"

To be eligible for the SKE training bursary, you must:

Have accepted your conditional offer for ITT (or HPITT) via Apply. 

• ITT / HPITT offer needs to specify that the completion of a SKE course is one of the conditions (or a recommendation in the case of HPITTs, like Teach First) 
• Not obtained a degree in your chosen ITT subject in the previous 5 years (e.g. if you obtained a physics degree in 2023, you would not be eligible for SKE funding if your ITT was also in Physics)

Please note however, the SKE training bursary ceases when ITT commences. If your SKE course and ITT course run in parallel at any point, then you will not receive an SKE bursary for the time in which this overlap occurs. If a period of your SKE course is before your ITT programme start date, you will receive a bursary for that time only. 

If you are completing your SKE programme alongside the final year of your degree, then you will not receive your bursary until your degree classification is confirmed, at which point you will receive a lump sum in the next payment cycle. 

(If a degree is awarded in June 2020 (during the 2019/20 academic year) the candidate would be eligible for SKE funding for the 2024/25 academic year)

"What about part-time SKE courses and bursary payments"

If you are on a part-time SKE course, you will receive the bursary amount equivalent to your SKE course length e.g. £1,400.00 for an 8-week SKE but spread over a period greater than 2 months.

So, in this example, if the 8-week SKE course is completed over 4 months, you should expect to receive £350 per month for the 4 months of your part-time study. This is because £175 training bursary is equivalent to 25 hours of study (per week if full time) and if you are completing less than this, your weekly bursary entitlement will be less, but the total amount received by the end of the course will be the same (provided there is no overlap with your ITT as discussed above).

The DfE provides payment schedules to SKE providers the month after a claim form is submitted. It is not possible to know in advance with 100% certainty what will be paid each month, only that DfE endeavour to release the bursary in equal monthly instalments. 

SKE providers are only able to pass onto students what DfE send each month, which can at times be irregular amounts and frequency. Although the release of the bursary can be bumpy at times, you can be reassured that the total SKE bursary you are due will be released eventually and once the funds are in our possession, will be passed onto to eligible students promptly. 

NOTE regarding non-UK applicants: 

Eligibility for SKE bursaries will be aligned to the eligibility criteria for non-UK applicants to receive an ITT bursary and support (i.e. including maintenance support). Where a participant does not meet these eligibility criteria, provider costs will only be paid where the participant has been placed on a School Direct (SD) salaried course.

RE: MFL and Physics

Generally speaking, MFL and Physics candidates are treated as if they are home-fee payment trainees (I.e. non-UK candidates in those subjects are processed as if they are UK candidates when it comes to the bursary)

"What happens if I cannot complete my SKE on time and it starts to overlap with my teacher training?"

Sometimes overlapping of the SKE and your ITT programme is unavoidable. In these circumstances your ITT provider will need to agree on the overlap.

When the overlap is unavoidable, we try to support the work being undertaken on your training by pairing the units with what you may be delivering in your school placement. We also encourage students to undertake the SKE on a part time basis during this period of overlap, to reduce the weekly workload.

"Is the SKE going to cost me anything?"

No, the course is completely free to eligible trainees. The Department for Education funds SKE courses via Call off Contracts with providers on the framework. We complete all the necessary paperwork for SKE funding using the information you provide on your application and you’re your ITT confirms via our verification process. 

The funding we apply to DfE for covers your programme course costs and if you are eligible, your SKE training bursary too. We check your eligibility for both the programme funding and training bursary as part of the application and onboarding process.

"What if I have started my ITT training?"

If you have started your ITT training and are receiving a bursary for that, you will not be eligible to receive SKE bursary too. Essentially once your ITT training starts your SKE bursary will cease.

"When do I get paid my bursary?"

The bursary is paid monthly in arrears once approved by the DfE. For full time courses the bursary is £175 per week of study. If for any reason throughout your course you are not engaging, the bursary may be suspended.

Upon enrolment, the bursary team will contact you for the details necessary to pay you directly.

If you are awaiting your degree result, the bursary will be held until proof of this is sent to the bursary team. Once approved the bursary will be released.

"I haven’t yet completed my degree, am I still eligible for funding?"

You can commence the SKE even if you haven’t yet completed your degree or received the result. Once you are able to send in a copy of your degree classification your bursary will be released to you and back dated where applicable.

"I am a qualified teacher needing to teach across subjects, am I eligible?"

Unfortunately, the DfE are only funding courses for pre-ITT trainees where the SKE is a condition of their offer from their ITT provider (or recommendation in the case of HPITT providers, like TeachFirst). If you hold QTS you are not eligible, and we do not currently offer self-funded places.

New this year are self funded Maths and Geography SKE courses - provided by 2 of our SKE tutors, Lee Surtees and Alaine Grady.  You can find out more about self funded courses via this link

Aardvark SKE