Ethnic Minority Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Scheme: guidance for ITE Partnerships and the EWC 2023 to 2024

The Ethnic Minority ITE Incentive Scheme provides a £5,000 grant to students who are undertaking an accredited postgraduate certificate in Education (PGCE). The programme must lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Students must be meet the eligibility criteria.

This scheme is available for both full-time and part-time programmes.

Students undertaking any employment-based teacher training scheme are not eligible for this grant. This includes the ‘Salaried PGCE scheme’.

Students undertaking training programmes which enable them to teach in the Post Compulsory Education and Training Sector (PGCE PCET) are not covered under this scheme.

ITE incentive grants available reflect recruitment priorities within the teaching workforce in Wales. They are available to eligible students on eligible postgraduate ITE programmes in Wales.

The Welsh Ministers have powers under sections 14 to 17 of the Education Act 2002 to provide financial assistance for the promotion of the recruitment or retention of teachers or non-teaching staff. This grant is in place to encourage individuals to train, enter and remain in the teaching profession. They should not form part of a student finance package.

The Ethnic Minority Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Incentive Scheme is a legal scheme (“the scheme”). The scheme is made by the Welsh Ministers in the exercise of their powers. The scheme is reviewed on an annual basis. Each scheme makes provision for postgraduate Black, Asian and minority ethnic ITE students, studying their accredited ITE programme access to these incentives.

The Ethnic Minority ITE Incentive Scheme was introduced in September 2022. The scheme supports the Welsh Government’s ambition for an anti-racist Wales. The scheme aims to increase the number of ethnic minority teachers. Students who undertook an ITE programme prior to September 2022 are not eligible to this incentive.

ITE partnerships and the EWC will be issued with a grant offer letter to support the delivery of this scheme.

ITE partnerships and the EWC must refer to the appropriate:

• legal scheme
• grant offer letter
• privacy notice

linked to the year of study to check student eligibility and full scheme details.

Please refer to the appropriate scheme to the academic year of study to check eligibility and claiming criteria. If you have any questions related to previous years please contact ITEIncentives@gov.wales.

Under this scheme an incentive grant of £5,000 is available to all students who meet the eligibility criteria for the academic year of study.

Full-time students

The incentive payments totalling £5,000 will be made in two instalments, at the end of a student’s ITE programme and early career:

• £2,500 in July/August on successful completion of their PGCE and award of QTS. Where a student is assessed by a resubmission exam board, payments will be made prior to 31 December. ITE Partnerships are responsible for this payment. ITE Partnerships are responsible for this payment.
• £2,500 on successful completion of Induction in Wales. The EWC are responsible for this payment.

Updated claim forms should be submitted to the Welsh Government where a student is assessed by a resubmission exam board. This should be done by ITE partnerships. This should include individuals who are successfully awarded QTS to enable payments to be made before 31 December. 

The exact dates of payments will be set out in the grant agreement terms and conditions.

ITE Partnerships and the EWC are responsible for administering and assessing students’ eligibility for this incentive. They do this on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Students can only claim an incentive grant if they:

• meet all the eligibility criteria
• are studying on an eligible programme
• have made an application by completing the relevant registration form

Student registration forms for the scheme will be provided to partnerships from the Welsh Government.

If students have any queries they should contact their ITE Partnership.

QTS payment

The QTS payment should only be made to those eligible students who have completed an eligible postgraduate ITE programme in Wales leading to QTS (on award of QTS). If a student fails to achieve QTS, payment should not be made.

If any student has withdrawn or deferred (or suspended) a programme prior to being awarded QTS, payment should not be made.

Final Incentive payment

The final incentive payment should only be made to those eligible NQTs who have:

• successfully completed their Induction period within a maintained school in Wales and been awarded an Induction certificate. This must be within three years, following award of QTS
• received all previous payments under this scheme

This incentive is administered on behalf of the Welsh Government by ITE Partnerships and the Education Workforce Council (EWC).

ITE Partnerships are responsible for the payments made on award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

The EWC are responsible for the final incentive payment. This is paid following successful completion of Induction and award of an Induction certificate.

Welsh Government are responsible for the terms and conditions of the scheme. Along with the collection of data to enable payments to be made to ITE Partnerships and the EWC.

ITE Partnerships are responsible for:

• utilising the incentive scheme to support recruitment into eligible ITE programmes where appropriate
• supporting those who identify as an ethnic minority student for registering on the scheme. Students must identify as one of the eligible ethnicities or ethnic groups. It is expected that this will match the records held by the ITE Partnership
• providing eligible students with access to the registration form at the start of the ITE programme
• ensuring students understand the terms of the grant
• collecting all signed registration forms and returning, in a secure manner, all forms to Welsh Government. sharing information should compile with data protection requirements in force at the time
• completing claim forms in line with in-programme payment dates (as detailed within the grant offer letter)
• completing claim forms in line with QTS award dates (as detailed within the grant offer letter). Where a student is assessed by a resubmission exam board, ITE Partnerships should submit updated claim information to Welsh Government for those individuals who are successfully awarded QTS to enable payments to be made before 31 December
• sharing forms in a secure manner, with Welsh Government along with relevant claims. The sharing of information should comply with data protection requirements in force at the time
• administering QTS grant payments to students
• collecting all signed withdrawal and resumptions forms. Returning, in a secure manner, all forms to Welsh Government. The sharing of information should comply with data protection requirements in force at the time
• dealing with student queries in relation to the incentive scheme
• sharing any required information with the EWC in relation to the administration of the grant payments to students. This must be done in a secure manner that complies with data protection requirements in force at the time. The sharing of information is to enable the final incentive payment to eligible Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs). This is done following successful completion of Induction and award of the Induction certificate. The process for the sharing of information will be determined jointly between the ITE Partnerships and the EWC
• Informing Welsh Government of any complaint received that is linked to this incentive. This must be done regardless of whether they require action by Welsh Government

Full responsibilities for ITE Partnerships are issued annually in:

• individual grant offer letters
• contract letters

ITE Partnerships should contact ITEIncentives@gov.wales if they have any queries.

Each student should complete a registration form. The registration form contains information the Welsh Government requires to:

• administer the scheme
• evaluate the scheme

ITE Partnerships must submit these to the Welsh Government at the start of each academic year in a secure manner. This information will also be shared with the EWC for administration purposes. The registration form asks students to confirm that they have read and understood the information contained on the student guidance web pages. If this confirmation is not received by Welsh Government, grant payments cannot be made.

ITE Partnerships must complete and submit claim forms to the Welsh Government. This will ensure appropriate funds are released for payment. ITE Partnerships will be informed of the submission date via the grant agreement letter.

Registration forms and claim forms will be issued to ITE Partnerships directly. ITE Partnership should direct any questions they have related to the payment process, to ITEIncentives@gov.wales.

Deferment and resumption for QTS payment

If a student defers (suspends) their studies prior to achieving QTS, they will not be eligible to receive the QTS payment. However, if they resume their studies and achieve QTS, they will be entitled to receive payment on award of QTS. Payment will be made following completion of an eligible postgraduate ITE programme in Wales leading to QTS (on award of QTS). Payment will be made in line with these conditions.

If a student resumes an ITE programme in a different academic year a deferment and resumption form will need to be completed. ITE Partnerships can obtain forms from Welsh Government. Completed forms will need to be submitted to Welsh Government with the relevant claim form. The information on the completed form will be shared with ITE partnerships, Welsh Government and the EWC.

Students who do not achieve QTS at the end of their ITE programme will not be entitled to claim the QTS payment of this incentive.

The EWC are responsible for:

• working with ITE Partnerships to identify students that meet the eligibility criteria following award of QTS
• collecting relevant information from NQTs to enable the final incentive payment to be made
• ensuring NQTs understand the terms of the grant and the process for the final incentive payment
• completing claim forms and submitting, in a secure manner to Welsh Government. This should that comply with data protection requirements in force at the time
• administering the final incentive grant payment
• dealing with student queries in relation to the final incentive grant payment

The process for sharing information in relation to the incentive scheme between ITE Partnerships and the EWC will be determined jointly.

Full responsibilities for EWC are issued annually as part of the grant offer letter. If the EWC have any queries, they should contact ITEIncentives@gov.wales or the relevant ITE Partnership.

How the payment will be paid to the EWC

The EWC must complete and submit claim forms to the Welsh Government. This will ensure appropriate funds are released in accordance with the dates scheduled in the grant offer letter.

Claim forms will be issued to the EWC directly. If the EWC have any questions related to the payment process, contact ITEIncentives@gov.wales.

The Welsh Government is committed to making Wales an Anti-racist nation and to increasing the number of ethnic minority teachers, so learners in schools in Wales have a more diverse teaching workforce.

When applying for the Ethnic Minority ITE Incentive students are asked for information about their ethnicity. This is needed to:

• establish students’ eligibility for the scheme
• to understand the overall diversity of the student cohort and
• attempt to estimate the diversity of the future workforce

We ask students to choose from a list of ethnic groups which closely mirror those used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This is done to ensure a consistent approach to understanding ethnic diversity within higher education in Wales.

The Welsh Government have powers to recover incentive grants paid, in whole or in part. They have discretion about whether to exercise those powers and will consider all cases on their merits.

These powers may be exercised by the Welsh Government where:

1. after receiving any instalment of an incentive grant, the recipient fails to meet any eligibility criteria adopted by the Welsh Government and set out in the schedule or information guide in relation to a subsequent instalment or
2. the recipient has provided in, or in connection with, his or her application for an incentive grant, information which is false or materially misleading, or there is firm evidence that the recipient had never intended to complete the programme or having completed it, to enter teaching

Information which a student submits as part of their claim under the Ethnic Minority ITE Incentive Scheme, is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “FOIA”), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the “EIR”) the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (the “DPA”).

Students also acknowledge that the Welsh Government is responsible for determining in our absolute discretion whether:

1. to disclose any information which we have obtained under or in connection with the Funding to the extent that we are required to disclose such information to a person making a disclosure request under the FOIA or the EIR and/or
2. any information is exempt from disclosure under the FOIA or the EIR
3. to undertake checks for the purposes of preventing fraud and money laundering, and to verify your identity. These checks are required to process personal data about you to third party fraud prevention agencies

Welsh Government is the data controller for the personal information it receives. Any personal data we collect will be managed in accordance with our Ethnic Minority Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Incentive: privacy notices and privacy notice: Welsh Government grants.

Scheme documentation

The Ethnic Minority ITE Scheme is reviewed on an annual basis. ITE partnerships and the EWC must reference the appropriate:

• legal scheme
• grant offer letter
• student guidance
• privacy notice

linked to the year of study. This will assist in checking student eligibility and full scheme details.

Please read our legal schemes, student guidance and privacy notices for more information.