School-Centred Initial Teacher Training Programme (SCITT)

You’ll spend most of your training year in one school, where you’ll be based, teach, and build relationships. You’ll also complete a three-week placement in a contrasting school and attend training online on Friday afternoons, with some in-person sessions at a United Teaching Regional Training Centre.

With more than 110 schools across England, we can place trainees in a location that suits them. We place trainees directly into United Learning primary and secondary schools, as well as a wide network of partner academies and independent schools, so you never need to find your own placement.

When you apply, you can tell us your preferred school. We’ll then look for the best match based on your subject, school environment, and where you're most likely to thrive, aiming to place you within around an hour's commute.

We also welcome applications from school staff outside our network who already have a placement school and need an accredited provider for their training year. Please contact us for more information.

Your training covers five key areas:

• Behaviour
• Pedagogy
• Curriculum
• Assessment
• Professional practice

Passionate

It goes without saying that you’ll need to love your chosen subject. More importantly, you’ll be able to turn that passion into lessons that engage, motivate, and inspire pupils to learn.

Resilient

Teaching is rewarding, but not every lesson or challenge will go to plan. We’re looking for people who can adapt, persevere, and stay positive when faced with setbacks.

Committed to Learning

You’ll be naturally curious and dedicated to developing your subject knowledge and teaching practice throughout your career.

Great Communicator

You’ll know how to get the right message across, while also being an excellent listener. Strong communication skills are key to building relationships with pupils, parents, and colleagues.

Eager

Ready to get stuck in, make a difference, and embrace opportunities to learn, grow, and succeed. Teaching is a role with lasting impact, and we’re looking for people excited by that responsibility.

Supportive

Children learn in different ways and at different paces. If you’re patient, caring, and encouraging, you’ll help every pupil reach their potential while setting a positive example.

Fair

There’s no room for bias or favouritism in teaching. Being fair, balanced, and consistent helps build trust, maintain high standards, and create a positive learning environment.

We have trained thousands of teachers who are now making a difference in schools across the country. From your first day, your wellbeing and professional growth will be at the heart of your training.

You will benefit from:

• High-quality, practical training
• Strong subject and pastoral mentoring
• A research-led curriculum
• Local school placements
• Clear pathways for career progression
• A strong focus on wellbeing

Our course is for those who want to make a lasting impact in their classrooms and communities and develop into confident teachers, role models, and future leaders.

Training sessions are on Friday afternoons, led by the United Teaching team and subject leads.

These dive into the theory of teaching and cover aspects such as Rosenshine’s principles, professional behaviour, and curriculum. The benefit of a school-based programme is that you can quickly put your learning into practice in the classroom, adapting and refining as you go.

After each session, you will add to your training log to keep a record of what you’ve learned, how you plan on implementing it, and ultimately show how you have met each Teacher's Standard.

Most sessions are delivered remotely, but at least one each half term takes place in person at one of our regional training centres.

To qualify as a teacher, you must successfully meet all Teachers’ Standards.

Our assessment model focuses on formative assessment and target setting, which allows you to develop continuously throughout your training year. You will maintain an online portfolio as a folder of evidence of how you meet each Teacher Standard. This is a formal record of your training year and will form part of the final assessment. 

The final assessment takes place in May - July and includes a joint lesson observation, progress and feedback discussion, and a review of your portfolio.

If you choose to study a PGCE, you’ll complete this alongside your school-based training. 

You will be assessed via two written assignments, which are designed to work in conjunction with our curriculum: pedagogy for learning in the classroom and planning for learning in the classroom. These assignments ask you to reflect on and evaluate your own practice and that of your placement schools. They provide you with 60 credits at Level 7, which can be used as part of a future Master's degree (180 credits). 

You will be allocated an academic tutor who will support you throughout the course. For each academic assignment, you will be provided with taught sessions and 1:1tutorials. 

To be successful, you will need to engage thoroughly with published academic research and educational theory.