Building a Sustainable Teaching Pipeline with Grad2Teach

From Support Roles to Fully Qualified Teachers

 

Schools often invest in high-potential graduates or employ support staff who show strong teaching potential, but without a clear development pathway, these individuals can be lost to alternative ITT routes, never to return. Rather than relying on less-skilled, or indeed unsuitable temporary staff, schools can offer structured training opportunities through Grad2Teach, ensuring that talented individuals remain within the schools they love whilst progressing towards full teaching qualifications.

 

Providing support staff with a structured route into teaching through Grad2Teach not only enhances classroom support quality but also strengthens long-term workforce planning, driving down costs. Additionally, utilising a pool of high-potential graduates as trainees is an effective way to attract and retain budding talent, positioning your school as a place where aspiring teachers can train, develop, and build a long-term career:

 

Retain talented staff who already understand your school's culture and expectations, have built relationships and love the community.
Provide a structured pathway to ITT and QTS without losing support staff to external training providers.
Strengthen workforce planning, ensuring future vacancies are filled with familiar, trained professionals.

 

By embedding ITT progression within their existing staff structure, schools can proactively nurture and retain the best talent, ensuring continuity and long-term staffing stability.

 

Flexible ITT Pathways to Suit Schools’ Needs

 

Grad2Teach offers a range of flexible Initial Teacher Training routes to ensure schools can develop staff in a way that fits their budget, timetable requirements and staffing strategy:

 

• Apprenticeships – A salaried route allowing trainees to earn while they learn, maximising the use of available government funding to support school recruitment and workforce planning.
• Assessment Only – For experienced candidates who are already teaching but need to formalise their skills with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through an accelerated assessment process. This includes CPD opportunities to ensure trainees meet both school performance benchmarks and the QTS threshold.
• Employed PGCE with QTS – A structured, salaried training programme where trainees work towards a PGCE with QTS, accredited by Coventry University’s National Institute of Teaching and Education. This allows schools to train and retain teachers in-house while they gain essential academic and practical teaching skills.

 

By providing multiple pathways, Grad2Teach ensures that schools can nurture a diverse range of trainees, from those just entering education to career changers bringing valuable professional experience into the classroom.

 

Expanding Talent Pools: International Recruitment with VISA Sponsorship

 

To broaden the pool of potential trainees, Grad2Teach also holds a VISA Sponsorship Licence, allowing schools to recruit talented international educators who meet UK teaching standards. This can be particularly valuable for:

 

• Filling subject shortages, particularly in STEM, MFL, and other high-demand areas (and unlike other providers, costs are not dictated by subject specialisms).
• Bringing diverse perspectives into the classroom, enriching students' learning experiences.
• Supporting school workforce planning, ensuring a pipeline of skilled, motivated teachers.

 

The Strategic Advantage of Working with Grad2Teach

 

By embedding trainees within the school from an early stage, Grad2Teach helps schools future-proof their workforce. This proactive approach to recruitment offers several strategic benefits:

 

Improved Teacher Retention – Trainees are fully immersed in the school environment before qualifying, reducing the risk of early career attrition.

Stronger Classroom Support – Instead of hiring less-experienced or temporary staff, schools gain a dedicated, growing workforce.

Seamless Workforce Planning – Schools can identify future teachers early, ensuring staffing continuity and succession planning.

Retention of High-Potential Staff – Schools can refer Phase One trainees to Grad2Teach, preventing them from leaving for alternative ITT providers.

 

By partnering with Grad2Teach, schools can actively shape their teaching workforce, ensuring a steady supply of well-prepared, high-quality educators who are already embedded within their school community.