Former soldiers to qualify as teachers in two years under government scheme

Ex-service personnel with no degree will be able to become teachers in half the normal time from next year

Former soldiers will be able to qualify as teachers in two years under a new government scheme.

From next year, ex-service personnel who do not have a degree, but have experience or qualifications as instructors, coaches or mentors, will be able to sign up to a programme that will put them in the classroom in around half the time it usually takes to become a teacher.

The move is part of a bid by ministers to encourage members of the army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy to consider teaching as a career.

The Department for Education (DfE) also said that former military personnel who already had a degree would be handed bursaries and be able to enrol on teacher training courses with extra bespoke training.

The education minister David Laws said the schemes would help ex-servicemen and women to make the move into the classroom.

But a headteachers’ leader raised concerns that the programmes would not provide the right preparation and support for teaching, and warned against creating a “military ethos” in schools.

The two schemes are part of the government’s Troops …read more