Now is an interesting time to start teaching a modern foreign language in England. The government is committed through its EBacc ambition to increasing the number of pupils taking a language to GCSE level, so as a languages teacher you’ll be in demand by schools. The most popular languages in schools are French, Spanish and German.

There are also increasingly opportunities in some areas to teach other languages, as part of the mainstream curriculum, or as enrichment classes - Arabic, Bengali, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu are just a few.

As a trainee teacher, you could benefit from a tax-free bursary  to support your training year. There’s even support in place before you apply - when you register with the Department of Education’s Get Into Teaching website, you could receive free tailored advice from a teaching expert throughout the application process. Please click here for more information.

Once qualified, from this September newly qualified teachers will benefit from a 2-year support package. This is based on the based on the Early Career Framework which you can read about here.

Latest: April 2024

DfE announces changes to the International Relocation Payment (IRP).

Trainees due to start their training courses in the 2024/25 academic year will no longer be eligible to receive the IRP.

This change applies to both fee-paying and salaried trainees.

DfE anounces financial incentives for ITT courses starting in 2024/25

Full details are available here:
Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2024 to 2025 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

'We are offering tax-free bursaries of £28,000 in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. Scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free will be offered in partnership with professional bodies for chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. A languages scholarship worth £27,000 tax-free will be available in French, German and Spanish.

We are also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design & technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages). £10,000 tax-free bursaries will be available in English, and we are reintroducing £10,000 tax-free bursaries in art & design, music and RE.

We are continuing to offer bursaries and scholarships to all non-UK national trainees in languages and physics.

Providers offering the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship will be able to access increased grant funding equivalent to the bursary in chemistry, computing, mathematics, physics, French, German and Spanish. This is in addition to the £9,000 apprenticeships levy funding.

Information about bursaries and scholarships will be added automatically to your published course pages for the relevant subjects.'

Changes to international relocation payment (IRP) eligibility and payments (April 2024)

Teacher trainees in languages or physics who train to teach in the 2024 to 2025 academic year are no longer eligible for the IRP. This applies to all trainees starting courses from 1 July 2024 onwards.

Please click here for full details.

Languages Teacher Training Scholarships - February 2023

For information about Languages Teacher Training Scholarships please click here.

For information on other scholarship programmes please click here.

Languages Teacher Training Scholarships contact email: [email protected]

DfE has announced financial incentives for ITT courses

Full details are available here.

Funding: initial teacher training (ITT), academic year 2023 to 2024

Please click here for the Find service.

The Subject Knowledge Enhancement Directory has been updated. Please click here for full details.

The ITT Ofsted Inspection Framework highlights the importance of professional subject associations like ALL e.g. the ITE curriculum prepares trainees for a fulfilling and successful career as a teacher. Trainees are taught how to manage their workloads and how to maintain their own health and welfare, as well as how to engage with relevant subject and/or scholarly communities, including communities of practice relating to technical and vocational training, where relevant.

ALL is the UK’s major subject association for teachers of languages, and we exist to support and represent language teachers. We’re here to help you on your journey to become a language teacher, so join us as a trainee teacher by becoming a Student Member.

Applicants for ALL student membership are entitled to two years’ membership at this subsidised rate to support you in training and then subsequently in your NQT year.

An annual student membership costs just £27.50.