Ex-soldiers to be given fast-track training to become teachers

Former soldiers will be able to re-train as teachers in two years under a scheme to help find new careers for ex-servicemen and women.

From next year, members of the armed forces 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 Department for Education (DfE) also said that former military personnel who already have a degree will be given bursaries and can enrol on teacher training courses with added bespoke training.

Those leaving the armed forces who do not have a degree but do have relevant experience or qualifications can sign up for a two-year, school based salaried training scheme. Those who are accepted on to the course will spend four days a week in the classroom and one day at university, gaining a degree and QTS when they graduate.

But Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: “For those without a degree, one day a week at university over a two-year course is not enough,” he said.