CONSIDER FINANCIAL AID

Some aspiring educators are very lucky to be able to receive scholarship or bursaries to fund their training (see below for more). These grants are not of equal value, however, so many will either receive not enough to cover all their costs, or very little at all. In these circumstances, we understand the compulsion to work and earn money, but here’s why you shouldn’t:

· The physical and mental drain – Even if you complete the PGCE part time, it will be draining both physically and mentally. Adding the stress of a job into the mix is asking for trouble.

· Your PGCE needs your full attention – The academic side is very challenging, and you will likely need to devote many hours to completing assignments, as well as planning lessons and doing general preparation. You can’t afford distractions.

· You can finish your course faster – Not having part-time work means you can finish the course in a single year, get over the initial stress and start your new career earlier.

· Student debt is not like other debt – We should remember that while taking on debt is not ideal, at least student debt isn’t like credit card debt. You only pay back when you are earning, and even then it’s in small and manageable amounts.

Interestingly, the apparently “easier” route of a part-time PGCE while maintaining a part-time income is, underneath it all, the much more difficult and stressful route. Conversely, the apparently “scarier” route of taking on some student debt and facing the intensive 12-month course head on is, in the long run, a less stressful approach.

Financial aid comes in two main forms. The first is a “Tuition Fee Loan” which covers the costs of your tuition up to £9,250. In addition, you can get a “Maintenance Loan” of up to £12,010 for living costs. You can find more information on available loan programs at the gov.uk “Get Into Teaching” site.

The gov.uk page has great information on eligibility for the various bursaries and scholarships that can go to funding your PGCE studies. There are two main things to remember from the information given:

1. Not every subject comes with the option of a scholarship/bursary

2. Not every package is equal in terms of how much money you receive

The essential difference between the bursary and scholarship is that the bursary is awarded on the basis of need, typically worked out on your current household income. The scholarship is awarded based on merit, typically by looking at your highest awarded degree level.

The differences, however, are less important than the common factors, which is that before anything else, they are only open to people with a 1^st, 2:1, 2:2, Master’s or PhD. They are also only available to candidates specialising in the following subjects:

· Science – Chemistry, Physics. Biology

· Maths

· Languages

· Computing

· Classics

· Humanities – Geography, History, RE, Business Studies

· Arts – Art, Design, Music

· Design & Technology

· English

· Primary with Maths

It should be noted that these also don’t offer equal amounts of support. A teacher wanting to specialise in primary education with maths, for example, can get up to £6,000 as a bursary. Those looking to do chemistry, languages, maths or physics, on the other hand, can get as whopping £26,000 bursary plus up to £6,000 in “early-career payments,” totalling support of £32,000.