Now is an interesting time to start teaching a modern foreign language in England. The government is committed through its EBacc ambition to increasing the number of pupils taking a language to GCSE level, so as a languages teacher you’ll be in demand by schools. The most popular languages in schools are French, Spanish and German.

There are also increasingly opportunities in some areas to teach other languages, as part of the mainstream curriculum, or as enrichment classes - Arabic, Bengali, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu are just a few.

As a trainee teacher, you could benefit from a tax-free bursary  to support your training year. There’s even support in place before you apply - when you register with the Department of Education’s Get Into Teaching website, you could receive free tailored advice from a teaching expert throughout the application process. Please click here for more information.

Once qualified, from this September newly qualified teachers will benefit from a 2-year support package. This is based on the based on the Early Career Framework which you can read about here.

Latest: DfE anounces financial incentives for ITT courses starting in 2024/25

Full details are available here:
Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2024 to 2025 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

'We are offering tax-free bursaries of £28,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. Scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free will be offered in partnership with professional bodies for chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. A languages scholarship worth £27,000 tax-free will be available in French, German and Spanish.

We are also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design & technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages). £10,000 tax-free bursaries will be available in English, and we are reintroducing £10,000 tax-free bursaries in art & design, music and RE.

We are continuing to offer bursaries and scholarships to all non-UK national trainees in languages and physics. This is alongside continuing the £10,000 international relocation payment (IRP) to help with visa costs and other moving expenses.

Providers offering the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship will be able to access increased grant funding equivalent to the bursary in chemistry, computing, mathematics, physics, French, German and Spanish. This is in addition to the £9,000 apprenticeships levy funding.

Information about bursaries and scholarships will be added automatically to your published course pages for the relevant subjects.'

International Relocation payments

Information about international relocation payments for trainee teachers and teachers of languages and physics from outside the UK.

International relocation payments - GOV.UK

Languages Teacher Training Scholarships - February 2023

For information about Languages Teacher Training Scholarships please click here.

For information on other scholarship programmes please click here.

Languages Teacher Training Scholarships contact email: [email protected]

DfE has announced financial incentives for ITT courses

Full details are available here.

Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2023 to 2024

Latest official documentation - Winter 2022

Please click here for full details.

Applications for the Languages Teacher Training Scholarship will open on Wednesday 4 January 2023. The deadline to apply is Tuesday 28 February 2023. Please click here for full details.

DfE writes:

‘We are offering tax-free bursaries of £24,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. Scholarships worth £26,000 tax-free will be offered in partnership with professional bodies for chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics.

We are also offering a £15,000 tax-free bursary in design & technology, geography, and languages, including ancient languages, and a £10,000 tax-free bursary for biology trainees.

Schools offering School Direct (salaried) or the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship routes will continue to be able to access funding equivalent to the bursary amount.

Information about bursaries and scholarships will be added automatically to your published course pages for the relevant subjects.

Please click here for the Find service.

The Subject Knowledge Enhancement Directory has been updated. Please click here for full details.

The ITT Ofsted Inspection Framework highlights the importance of professional subject associations like ALL e.g. the ITE curriculum prepares trainees for a fulfilling and successful career as a teacher. Trainees are taught how to manage their workloads and how to maintain their own health and welfare, as well as how to engage with relevant subject and/or scholarly communities, including communities of practice relating to technical and vocational training, where relevant.

ALL is the UK’s major subject association for teachers of languages, and we exist to support and represent language teachers. We’re here to help you on your journey to become a language teacher, so join us as a trainee teacher by becoming a Student Member.

Applicants for ALL student membership are entitled to two years’ membership at this subsidised rate to support you in training and then subsequently in your NQT year.

An annual student membership costs just £27.50.