Our one-year, research-led training will give you plenty of experience and allows you to train to teach in a school in your local community. Our curriculum focuses on supporting you to put learning into practice through a four days per week school placement (three days per week for part-time trainees) from August 2026 to July 2027. All trainees have one study day per week to complete theoretical training and support their teaching practice.

The programme balances developing your subject knowledge and expertise alongside giving you a deep understanding of effective teaching methods and techniques to manage your workload and wellbeing.

In September you will have two weeks of Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) which will focus on the core areas of teaching such as behaviour management and lesson planning. You will have a further two separate weeks of intensive training later in the year.

In your school you will spend time with expert teachers, starting by observing lessons and learning how to teach, then supporting classes and getting to know them before starting to teach your own short episodes and later on, full lessons. You will work closely with a fully trained mentor who will also receive support and training from the Orion Education SCITT team.

Your weekly study day is designed in collaboration with Teach First’s expert curriculum designers and sequenced to make sure you are focused on the areas of teaching that are most relevant to that point in the year. The training you receive will include a mixture of online and face-to-face elements and will ensure that you develop the knowledge and skills you need to become a great teacher, gain your QTS and your PGCE.

The programme also includes a six-week Broader School Experience (BSE) starting in January. You will spend time working with children in a different context, which will include 5 weeks in a contrasting school in the same phase, and then one week looking at different phases and specialisms. These experiences will ensure you are exposed to different examples of good practice and prepared for your future career as a teacher.

At the end of the programme you will have the foundational knowledge and skills to become an effective teacher alongside achieving QTS with a PGCE.