Train as a teacher without leaving your school.
This four-year, full-time degree apprenticeship is for teaching assistants and support staff already working in primary schools who want to become qualified teachers. You’ll gain a BA (Hons) degree and be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) while you stay in work as a salaried member of school staff. It is delivered against the Teacher – Undergraduate apprenticeship standard (ST1502).
Who is it for?
The programme is designed for anyone, at any stage of their career, who wants to:
- Are already employed as a teaching assistant or support staff member in a school in England
- Want to become a qualified teacher
- Work in a primary school, covering ages 3 to 11 (EYFS to KS2)
It is designed for primary schools in England, including local authority schools and multi-academy trusts. It isn’t designed for school leavers or new recruits unless they are first employed by a school.
Earn while you learn
You stay in paid employment, spending 60% of your time in your school. Because the apprenticeship levy funds your training, you don’t rely on a student loan.
Degree and QTS in one integrated route
You’ll gain a BA (Hons) and be recommended for QTS in a single route. It is delivered through a partnership between Northumbria University (research-informed and online) and Ripley ITT (rated exceptional by Ofsted across all areas).
Research-rich progression with school-based mentoring
The partnership between Ripley ITT and Northumbria combines insights from pioneering educational research with expert knowledge from practice. Your learning moves from guided enquiry at Level 4 to an independent 8,500-word Education Research Project at Level 6, supported by weekly mentoring in your school.
What you’ll study
Five strands run across the programme:
- Educational research and enquiry
- Critical perspectives and contemporary issues
- Core curriculum (English, maths and science)
- Wider curriculum
- Inclusive and adaptive practice
Topics include lesson planning and sequencing, behaviour, assessment and feedback, SEND and EAL, phonics and oracy, and safeguarding, Prevent and British Values. The content is mapped to the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, so you’re well prepared for classroom practice.
You’ll also gain practical experience across four years in your own school, through weekly mentor meetings, intensive training and practice sessions, low-stakes rehearsal of teaching, and termly Knowledge, Application and Practice (KAP) reports.
What you’ll gain
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), leading directly into your Early Career phase as a newly qualified teacher
- A route towards school leadership
- A possible pathway to Master’s or doctoral study at Northumbria
Entry requirements
You must meet the Department for Education’s entry requirements for initial teacher training. This means a standard equivalent to a grade 4 at GCSE in English and maths. If you want to teach pupils aged 3 to 11, you also need a grade 4 equivalent in a science subject. If you don’t have a relevant GCSE at grade 4 or an equivalent qualification, you may be able to show you meet the requirement by taking a GCSE equivalency test.
[Links: the DfE ITT criteria page and the equivalency testing site, both supplied in the document]
Programme fees: you are a salaried employee, so you aren’t eligible for Student Loans Company funding. Your employer uses apprenticeship levy funding to pay for your training, and Ripley ITT checks funding eligibility.
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Page last reviewed: 4 November 2026
