ITT Grant FAQs
- Background Information
- Eligibility
- Grant Application
- Grant Payment
- Information for Employers
- Contact
Background information
Where has the money come from?
The funds have been made available by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) grant was first introduced in September 2010 and BIS have committed to continue to support those starting on their second year of an ITT course in 2012-13, who received a grant for their first year in 2011-12. IfL will continue to disburse these second year grants, which are separate from the bursaries announced in February 2012, further detailed in John Hayes' Ministerial Statement.
How much is the grant?
Further education (FE) providers will be able to claim a flat rate, non means tested grant of up to £400 per individual teacher or trainer for those continuing onto the second year of their initial teacher training course in 2012/13 who received a grant for the first year of their course in 2011/12.
Eligibility
Who is eligible for this grant?
- Only those that received a grant for the first year of their course in 2011-12 are eligible to receive a grant for the second year of their course starting in 2012-13.
IfL will be contacting employers who claimed a grant on behalf of their staff for the first year of an ITT course in 2011-12. - The teacher must be starting on the second year of the same course in 2012-13 (between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013).
- The ITT course must be the second year of a Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS), Skills for Life integrated DTLLS or a PGCE/Cert Ed (in lifelong learning).
- The course must be undertaken on a part time ‘in service’ basis.
- The employer must be a further education college or FE provider in England, funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), in the case of the latter, the teacher must be teaching on a SFA funded provision.
My employer did not apply for the grant for me last year, can they apply for me this year for the second year of my ITT course in 2012-13?
No, the department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) will only be funding towards the cost of the second year of an ITT course in 2012-13 for those who completed the first year of their course last year in 2011-12 and received a grant from IfL for that first year.
I have been accepted straight onto the second year of DTLLS / PGCE / Cert Ed (in lifelong learning) by Accredited Prior Learning (APL), am I eligible for the grant?
No, only those who are already on an ITT course and continuing onto their second year in 2012-13 are eligible for the grant for year 2 providing they received a grant for their first year and are continuing onto the second year of the same course in 2012-13.
I am starting a new ITT course in 2012-13 am I eligible for the £400 grant from IfL?
No BIS will not be funding any new grant applications in 2012-13 but will continue to fund the second year of an ITT course for those that received a grant for their first year in 2011-12 and are continuing onto their second year in 2012-13. IfL will continue to disburse these second year grants up to £400.Those starting on a new ITT course in 2012-13 may be eligible for a new 2012-13 ITT bursary as announced in the Ministerial Statement of 27 March 2012 details of which are still being finalised.
I took a year out and am now starting on the second year of my ITT course in 2012-13, am I eligible for the grant?
If you started the first year of your course from September 2010 onwards and received an ITT grant for that first year from IfL, then yes your employer will be able to make an application for you for the second year of your course starting in 2012-13. If you started on the first year prior to September 2010 then you will not be eligible for a second year grant.
I received a grant for the first year of my ITT course in 2011-12 but have now changed my employer, can I still get the grant for the second year of my course?
Yes, if you still meet the eligibility criteria and are teaching on a Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funded provision then your new employer can make the grant application on your behalf. You will need to ensure that your IfL record is updated with your new employment details.
If you are no longer teaching on a SFA funded provision with your new employer then you will not be eligibale for a grant.
If I received funding from Student Finance England (SFE) can I still get the £400 grant from IfL?
If you have received full funding for your course fees from Student Finance England (SFE) then you will not be eligible for this grant as the grant is purely to help towards the cost of the second year of ITT course fees in 2012-13. However if you have only received part funding from SFE then your employer can claim the grant towards the remainder of the second year course fees up to £400 (or less in the case where the outstanding fees fall below £400).
If you receive full funding from SFE after you have received the grant from IfL, you will need to repay the £400, or in the case of receiving part funding from SFE you will need to repay the difference in the remainder of the course fees and the £400. If this happens you should inform your employer immediately who will contact IfL to arrange the repayment. Employers should see the ‘Information for employers’ section for further information on repayments.
Is the Skills for Life additional diploma (ESOL, Literacy, Numeracy), eligible for an ITT grant?
The additional diploma is no longer eligible for the ITT grant as the 2012-13 grant is only for those who have already started on a 2 year ITT course in 2011-12 to help towards the second year fees. There is no grant available for new courses starting in 2012-13.
Do I need to be a member of IfL to apply for a grant?
No, BIS are continuing to fund all those that received a first year grant in 2011-12 who are going on to their second year in 2012-13. Therefore all teachers who received a grant for the first year of their course in 2011-12 will be eligible for the second year grant via their employer applying. However no new claims for ITT grants can be made for year one of a course.
Grant Application
When can the 2012-13 grant application be made?
The eligible employer will be able to make a claim for the grant for the second year of a course on behalf of their eligible teachers who received an ITT grant in 2011-12 for year one of their ITT course who are now starting on year 2 in 2012-13. The 2012-13 grant application will be open from May 2012. The deadline for applications is 31 December 2012.
Applications should be made once the second year of the course has commenced, as the grant will be paid as a reimbursement. However for courses that commence their second year between January 2013 and March 2013 (after the deadline of 31 December 2012) applications can be made in advance during December 2012.
What is the application process?
As in 2012-13 the grant is only available to those who received a grant for the first year of their course in 2011-12 the employer should have already have set up an employer account. Therefore the employer contact will be able to login to their employer area and make a claim only for the second year for those that received a grant for year one.
Should the designated employer contact have changed, then the new employer contact will need to register as an employer contact. Once IfL have verified the details and received a completed data access processing agreement (as part of the registration process) the employer will be emailed login details. The employer can then login to their employer record where they will be able to select applicants, and confirm their course details in order to claim the grant for their teachers.
If you have changed employer since receiving the grant in 2011-12 you will need to update your employer details in your IfL record, if you require assistance please contact fitt@ifl.ac.uk or call 0844 815 3202.
Is there a deadline for applications?
The deadline for 2012-13 applications is 31 December 2012.
The current funding provided by the department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) is for those continuing onto the second year of their ITT course between 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. Applications should be made once the second year of the course has commenced, as the grant will be paid as a reimbursement. However for courses that commence their second year between January 2013 and March 2013 (after the deadline of 31 December 2012), applications can be made in advance during December 2012.
My employer has registered with IfL, however I am not showing up on the employer record, why would this be?
Employers will only be able to make a grant application for those who are continuing onto the second year of their ITT course in 2012-13, therefore if you did not previously receive a grant for the first year of your course then you are not eligible for a grant and so your employer will not be able to find you in the application.
If you have changed employer and received an ITT grant for year one of your course in 2011-12 then please check your IfL membership record and update your employment details. Or in the case of non-members that received a grant for year one, if you have changed employer and are still teaching on a Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funded provision you will need to ask your new employer to complete a non-member form please return this to fitt@ifl.ac.uk
If you experience difficulties please contact fitt@ifl.ac.uk
For queries regarding the grant, or for employers’ area queries contact employers@ifl.ac.uk
To speak to an Advisor please contact our Membership team on 0844 815 3202
If you are unable to login to check your details, or need assistance renewing your membership please contact enquiries@ifl.ac.uk or call 0844 815 3202.
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Grant Payment
How will the funds be paid?
The grants will be paid directly to the employer by BACS within 30 days of application. The employer should then pass the grant directly onto the course provider towards their teachers’ course fees.
If an employer is not funding the course fees for their teachers, how do they pass the grant on to them, once they have claimed on their behalf?
Once the employer contact has claimed the grants for their eligible teaching staff, this will be paid directly into the organisation’s bank account. The employer should then arrange to forward the grant directly to the course provider where the teacher is undertaking their course. If the teacher has already paid their full course fees then the employer should reimburse the full £400 grant to the teacher.
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Information for employers
Download an eligibility criteria check list for employers
I tried to register as an employer contact but our organisation is not listed?
Please contact employers@ifl.ac.uk with your organisation’s full name and address requesting to be added to our database for employer registration.
To register as an employer contact do I need to be a member of IfL?
No, you can still be an employer contact for your organisation without being a member of IfL.
Are private training companies eligible to claim the grant for their teaching staff?
If you previously provided the necessary information and were granted access to apply for grants for staff on the first year of their course in 2011-12 then you will be able to make applications for those continuing onto the second year of their course in 2012-13 who are teaching on a Skills Funding Agency funding provision.
How do we register with IfL as an employer contact?
You can register as an employer contact in the employers’ area of the IfL website. You must register online and complete a data access and processing agreement which is available at the end of the online registration, without this form we will not be able to complete your registration.
Once your registration is complete, you will receive an email containing your login details, please allow up to 5 working days from receipt of your data access form to receive your login details. You can then login to your employer area at https://belong.ifl.ac.uk/iflonline/EmployerArea/login.html
I have logged in as an employer contact but cannot find some of our teachers in order to apply for the grant for them. Why?
Employers will only be able to make a grant application for those who are continuing onto the second year of their ITT course in 2012-13, therefore if you did not previously claim a grant in 2011-12 for a teacher on the first year of their ITT course you will not be able to apply for the second year grant for them.
If you have a new member of staff whose previous employer claimed the ITT grant for them in their first year in 2011-12 please ask them to check that they have updated their employment details on their IfL membership record.
In the case of non-members that received a grant for year one, if they have changed employer you will need to complete a non-member form and return this to fitt@ifl.ac.uk
If you still experience difficulties please contact fitt@ifl.ac.uk for queries regarding the grant, or for employers’ area queries contact employers@ifl.ac.uk
To speak to an Advisor please contact our Membership team on 0844 815 3202
If the individual teacher/member is unable to login to check their details, or needs assistance renewing their membership, they should contact our Membership team on 0844 815 3202 or email enquiries@ifl.ac.uk
How do we receive the grant money?
As in 2012-13 the grant funding is only available to those who previously received a grant for the first year of their course in 2011-12 the employer will already be registered and have submitted their bank details. If these details have changed please login to the employer’s area and update your organisation’s bank details. The funds will then be paid by BACS to the supplied bank account. Please allow up to 30 days to receive payment.
Once we receive the grant how do we pass this onto our teachers?
Once the employer has received the grant funding payment/s for their eligible teaching staff, they should then arrange to forward the grant directly to the course provider where the teacher is undertaking their course. If the teacher has already paid their full course fees then it is the employer’s responsibility to reimburse the full £400 grant to the teacher.
What happens if we inadvertently make an incorrect claim for funding, or need to change the details?
If you make an incorrect claim, and the grant has not yet been paid, you can login to your employer area and go to ‘Funding for Initial Teacher Training’ on the left hand menu, then search for the teacher you claimed for, if this is still in the ‘pending’ status click on ‘edit’ next to their name and you will see a link that says ‘withdraw this application’, you can also edit course details here.
However if the application has been ‘paid’ or ‘approved’ you should contact IfL immediately on
0844 815 3202 or email fitt@ifl.ac.uk in order for us to recover the payment or offset it against a future claim.
If a teacher does not complete their ITT course, do we have to repay the grant to IfL?
If the teacher withdraws from the course we will not normally ask for the grant to be returned to IfL as this is not a loan it is a grant to assist towards course fees. However if the teacher has received a full refund of course fees or not yet paid fees, then yes the £400 grant would need to be repaid to IfL.
Please contact IfL on 0844 815 3202 or email fitt@ifl.ac.uk immediately and we will assess the need for repayment.
How do we repay the grant to IfL if we make an incorrect claim?
Please contact IfL at fitt@ifl.ac.uk providing full details of the grant that needs to be repaid or call 0844 815 3202 as soon as possible. We will send you a statement and you can repay this by BACS or by cheque.
Where can I get our organisation’s UK Provider reference Number (UKPRN) from?
You can search for this on the UK register of Learning Providers website http://www.ukrlp.co.uk
Contact
Who can I contact if I have a query?
You can contact the Membership team on 0844 815 3202 where an advisor will be able to assist or direct you to the appropriate department.
By email
For queries on the ITT grant: fitt@ifl.ac.uk
For queries on IfL membership: enquiries@ifl.ac.uk
For queries on the employers’ area: employers@ifl.ac.uk
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