Thank you for your patience whilst we have been working to confirm the funding available for 2026/27 academic year. Despite a tight fiscal envelope, we have been able to continue some of the grant funding for ITT providers and placement schools to help providers further embed the Quality Requirements for ITT. We can now confirm the following grant funding rates.
It is important to note that all this funding is for the 2026/27 academic year only. Funding beyond this year is not yet confirmed.
General Mentor Grant
We know the importance that mentors play in delivering high quality training and are pleased to confirm that DfE will continue to provide a contribution towards the high-quality mentor training that is an essential part of enabling effective mentor support.
Placement schools will be able to claim up to a maximum of 16 hours of initial general mentor training, and 6 hours of refresher training. The requirements for ITT mentoring and support are set out in the ITT Criteria.
Please could all accredited providers share the information on general mentor funding with the placement schools you work with. This funding will continue to be administered through the Claim funding for mentor training service.
Intensive training and practice grant
ITAP funding for 2026/27 will be available to accredited providers to support them in reviewing and adapting their ITAP to ensure that this element of ITT supports trainees in adaptive teaching and meeting the needs of pupils with SEND. This can be done in either of the 2 ways set out in the ITAP guidance. We expect that this focus could be applied across most current ITAP topics. This will not be a requirement of the ITT criteria for 2026/27 but is a condition of this grant funding. To qualify for ITAP funding in 2026/27 ITT providers must ensure that the majority of their ITAP meets this requirement.
ITAP grant rates will remain the same as the 2025/26 academic year: £204 per trainee for postgraduates, £298 per trainee for undergraduates. Initial teacher training (ITT): delivery funding guidance
Providers who wish to claim this grant funding will be asked to provide existing documentation that covers the guidance for the ITAP and demonstrates the SEND focus. Further information will be outlined in updated funding guidance which will be published in July.
Lead Mentor Grant
Last year, we informed ITT providers that we had secured funding for academic year 2025/26 to support the transition of the lead mentor role into the practice of ITT providers. As this role should now be part of accredited providers’ standard offer to trainee teachers, lead mentor funding will be discontinued from the 2026/27 academic year.
The requirements of this role as set out in the ITT Criteria will continue.
Over the next month, we will work to update the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Delivery Funding Guidance to reflect these changes.
If you have any questions around this funding, please email ittreform.funding@education.gov.uk.