EBITT funding – key messages and changes for 2008/09

Training grant units of funding

For the academic year 2008/09, the TDA has increased the national training grant unit of funding for the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) and Registered Teacher Programme (RTP) by approximately six per cent and three per cent respectively from the AY2007/08 rates.

The Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP) training grant unit of funding will increase by six per cent in AY2008/09. The national level of training grant is now fixed at £2,000 per trainee (including a £640 assessment fee cost), irrespective of the length or intensity of training programmes.

From AY2008/09 the TDA will pay an assessment fee of £640 for all OTTP trainees. This is included as part of the training grant for training grant funded places. In previous years the standard assessment fee was £500, with an additional £140 payable for trainees assessed against the induction standards at the same time as the qualified teacher status (QTS) standards. To simplify OTTP funding, the assessment fee is now £640 for all trainees.

As with mainstream funding, the training grant rates for all EBITT routes will now depend on the location of the provider. From AY2008/09 the TDA will introduce a London weighting to reflect the additional costs incurred for training courses operating in these locations (five per cent increase for outer London and eight per cent for inner London).

Salary grant units of funding

Starting in AY2008/09, the salary grant rates will vary depending on the location of the employing school. As with the training grant, there are now different salary grant units of funding for inner London, outer London and other regions, including fringe areas. Previously, the salary grant covered approximately 95 per cent of the basic salary rate for point one on the unqualified teacher scale nationally, but less than 80 per cent of the London rates.

This change will lead to large increases in the salary grant contribution for employing schools in London. There will also be an increase in the national unit of funding for the salary grant. These increases ensure that the contribution towards a trainee’s salary is a similar proportion for all schools.

The salary grant will initially be paid to providers based on the location of their institution. This will then be adjusted as part of holdback to reflect the location of the employing schools to determine which level of salary grant each trainee attracts.

From AY2008/09 the TDA will pay a separate administration fee of £120 for each salary grant fundable place to cover the costs incurred by providers in processing payments to lead schools. Instead of being included in the training grant as in previous years, this fee will now be split out and paid in December, along with the first instalment of the salary grant.

This table shows the new funding levels for AY2008/09 training and salary grants:

Recruitment premiums

There have been two changes to recruitment premiums for AY2008/09. There is a new premium of £1,000 for all EBITT trainees specialising in a modern foreign language programme, and an increase to the mathematics recruitment premium to £2,000 per trainee.

The table below indicates the recruitment premiums payable for all EBITT routes in AY2008/09:

Holdback disregards and EBITT database

Providers are required to use the TDA’s online EBITT database to record details of all their EBITT trainees, training programmes and training outcomes. They should ensure that the database accurately reflects any changes to the status of trainees, such as withdrawals and deferments.

The EBITT database should be kept up to date throughout AY2008/09, and all trainee records must be finalised and correct by 31 July 2009. The TDA will use information from the database on this date to calculate the amount of funding that providers are entitled to claim for AY2008/09 and the recruitment premiums payable to providers.

From AY2008/09 any information which isn’t accurate on the EBITT database on 31 July 2009 will result in holdback penalties. If any adjustments are required to the database after this point, providers will lose their holdback disregards.

Capital support funding

Capital support funding was introduced in AY2007/08 to help EBITT providers with any capital spend incurred. This funding will be continued in AY2008/09, using the same principles.

Employment-based ITT funding allocations for academic year 2008/09