PGCE funding is out there? For a start, PGCE students are eligible for student loans and maintenance grants, just like undergraduate students are. As with undergraduates, these are split into a few sections.
Tuition fee loan
The tuition fee loan which covers the full cost of course fees of up to £9,250. When you start your non-salaried teacher training, you won’t have to pay the cost of tuition fees up front, instead apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover the full cost of your course, which is paid directly to your training provider from Student Finance England. These Tuition Fee Loans aren’t means tested, so regardless of your household income you should be able to claim the full amount for your course fees. This loan will have to be paid back once you are earning over £25,000 per year. Please see the UK government website for more information.
Maintenance loan
A Maintenance Loan of up to £11,672 is available for living costs. All eligible teacher trainees will qualify for at least the minimum loan amount for their living costs, regardless of household income. If you’re on a full-time teacher training course and live in London the minimum Maintenance Loan amount will be £5,812, and outside of London it will be £4,168 or £3,314 if you’re living at home.
Teacher training bursaries & scholarships
To qualify for a tax-free bursary or scholarship you’ll need to have a first, 2:1, 2:2, PhD or masters degree to be eligible for a bursary or scholarship. The amounts available vary due to a few factors like the grade achieved on your first degree (minimum of 2.2), and the subject you’re planning to teach. It also varies on where you are studying – for the purposes of this article, we’ll use the figures from England, but bear in mind they are slightly lower in Wales.
PGCE university funding options
Whilst these are the two major ways to get funding for PGCE courses, they are not the only two options available. Sometimes, universities will have scholarships, bursaries, or similar, available to applicants of certain courses, so it’s worth checking wherever you apply for whether there are additional options available.
PGCE charity funding options
Additionally, there is the option of looking at charities. There are plenty of charities offering funding, and many of them are specifically offering it to potential teachers. It may be a little harder to find, but often there will be charities dedicated to particular subjects, goals or certain areas of school catchment. Sometimes they’re even sorted by which school you yourself attended. Having a look through all of these options should reveal quite a few that you’re eligible for, and the best thing to do is to start writing to the individual charities and enquiring about eligibility. And check out some of our more ingenious ideas! So that’s funding for PGCE courses. As you can see, there’s a wide range of options available to you, and as long as you take the time to apply to any sources of funding open to you it should be no issue affording the course.
Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries
Don’t forget that once you have been accepted into a PGCE program you are eligible to apply for one of our Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries worth £500 towards your tuition fees. You can find out more here.
Can you get funding for a PGCE?
PGCE loans
Even if you receive a bursary or scholarship, you could be eligible for a loan to cover the costs of your postgraduate teacher training course.
Who is eligible for PGCE bursary?
The bursary is available to undergraduate trainees who enrol on an eligible ITT course that leads to QTS in secondary biology, physics, chemistry, computing, mathematics or languages, beginning in the 2026 to 2026 academic year.