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Government funding for specialist teacher training

On 22 June 2009 Sir Jim Rose published a report entitled Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties, which included a recommendation that the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF) should fund a number of teachers to undertake appropriately, accredited specialist training in teaching children with dyslexia.

The DCSF have endorsed all the recommendations in Sir Jim’s report and made available around £10m over this financial year and next to support their implementation and other dyslexia projects. The majority of this money is committed to funding the course-fees of 4,000 teachers, in England, wishing to study towards an ATS or AMBDA level qualification which has been accredited by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). Funding will also be considered for those already in possession of an ATS qualification who wish to enhance this to AMBDA level.

HADC offer level 5 and Level 7 OCR courses

  • OCR Level 5 has ATS status and Level 7 has AMBDA status so both of these courses are eligible for funding.
  • Only Candidates who have QTS status are eligible (i.e. those candidates who have a recognised number for the department of education or whatever it was called when they qualified) if they satisfy the following criteria:
    • They are currently employed in a state primary or secondary school OR
    • They are currently employed by a Local Authority in a teaching or advisory role
    • They are between posts and intend to use this training to return to teaching in the state sector
    • They are employed in the voluntary sector e.g. the Helen Arkell Centre

Eligible candidates must have a letter of support:

  • Teachers in employment in a state school should have letter of support from the Head Teacher of their school confirming full endorsement confirming their professional and personal suitability, their commitment to successfully complete the training and their ability to deploy their skills/knowledge post-training
  • If currently working for a local authority the letter should be written by their line manager or Senior LA Officer
  • If currently between posts the letter should be written by a Senior Local Authority Officer or a suitably qualifies head Teacher confirming their suitability for the training as set out above

The Dyslexia Trust advice is to include in the letter of support some positive comment about the government’s recognition of the value of specialist training and the benefit of this funding.

NOT ELIGIBLE

  • People who are not QTS
  • People who are working in the POST 16 sector
  • People working in the independent sector

Please note that, as it states on the Dyslexia Trust website, teachers who meet the funding criteria and are accepted onto appropriate courses are not automatically guaranteed funding.

You must therefore complete paying for your course as has already been agreed and your fee will be refunded if the application is successful.

The following is taken from the Dyslexia/SpLD Trust website

DCSF Funding Criteria for National Dyslexia-SpLD Specialist Teacher Training

On 22 June 2009 Sir Jim Rose published a report entitled Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties, which included a recommendation that the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF) should fund a number of teachers to undertake appropriately, accredited specialist training in teaching children with dyslexia.

The DCSF have endorsed all the recommendations in Sir Jim’s report and made available around £10m over this financial year and next to support their implementation and other dyslexia projects. The majority of this money is committed to funding the course-fees of 4,000 teachers, in England, wishing to study towards an ATS or AMBDA level qualification which has been accredited by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

Funding will also be considered for those already in possession of an ATS qualification who wish to enhance this to AMBDA level. The aim of funding these additional training places is to build capacity within the school system to improve access to specialist and high quality support for children and young people with dyslexia. Access to this type of specialist support can be significantly improved by encouraging schools and Local Authorities (LAs) to work in partnership and to pool their resources. Head Teachers are being encouraged to look at existing cluster arrangements and to be proactive in thinking about how they might deploy the expertise of a specialist teacher across a number of schools in their area. For this reason, we are giving priority to those nominated teachers who can demonstrate that upon completing training they will be willing to work across a cluster of schools to share their knowledge and skills.

Applicants for funded places must meet the following funding criteria set out below.

Eligibility Criteria

All applicants must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and have completed their induction year;

AND

be working in schools in England and have the full endorsement of the Head Teacher of their school, confirming their professional and personal suitability, their commitment to successfully complete the training and their ability to deploy their skills/knowledge post-training;

OR:

be working in England for a Local Authority Support Service, the Voluntary sector or living in England
OR
if between posts and have the full endorsement of their Line Manager/Senior LA Officer OR a suitably qualified Head Teacher confirming their suitability as set out above.

A set of frequently asked questions are published on this website but if you still have a query you would like to raise with the Dyslexia-SpLD Trust, please e-mail us at the following address: training@thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk

These are the criteria for being eligible for DCSF funding for specialist training. However, the question of a candidate’s eligibility for a course is a matter for the course provider.