Bursaries, fees and funding

There are two financial elements to consider when preparing your application for teacher training:

• The cost of tuition fees 
• How you will meet your living expenses

Tuition Fees

Astra course fees for our full time unsalaried courses for 2024-25 are £7,750 for QTS-only, and £9,250 for QTS with PGCE. For our two-year part time courses, the fees are £10,000 for QTS-only, and £12,000 for QTS with PGCE. 

In 2025-2026 we expect these fees to increase slightly (by about 3.5%) following the government's recent announcement around Higher Education tuition fees. Exact figures will be announced in January 2025.

Applicants generally fund their tutition fees either through Student Loans or privately from their own funds.  For trainees who are on a salaried into teaching the cost of fees is often met by the employer. Apprenticeship fees are always paid by the employer. 

Living Expenses

Many secondary courses attract a bursay towards living costs. The amounts vary from year to year, but are typically between £5,000 and £30,000 if scholarship funding is also applied for. This is a tax free amount and is paid in ten installments during the course. Part time trainees are also eligible to apply for a bursary which is then calculated on a pro-rata basis.

In many cases, you may be eligible to apply for Student Loan finance towards living costs. It's especially important to know this for subjects that do not attract a bursary. The amount you can borrow towards living costs depends on your financial and personal circumstances.

On a salaried route into teaching, you are paid as an unqualified teacher. Salaried trainees follow the same course as other trainees but will be teaching more in school from the very beginning of the course. You're an employee as well of the school. 

Apprenticeships are similar to the salaried route into teaching. Apprentices are employed by their school and paid as unqualified teachers.

Can we help?

Contact Astra if we can help explain funding further. We're here to help you at every step of the application process.

Further Information and applying for finance

Information about student loans for tuition fees and maintenance can be found here. If you are eligible for a student loan, information on student loan repayments is accessible here You can use the student finance calculator to estimate student loans, and extra student funding (eg if you are disabled or have children).

The exact amount of bursaries available is announced every Autumn. Further information is avaialable here.

For Chemistry, Computer Science,  Maths and Physics, scholarship funding is also available.

Find out more on the dedicated scholarship pages:

Computing: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

Chemistry: Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Maths: Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships 

Physics: Institute of Physics scholarships