Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive Scheme: guidance ITE partnerships and the EWC 2023 to 2024

This Scheme is available to students studying an accredited secondary postgraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme enabling them to teach through the medium of Welsh or Welsh as a subject, leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

This scheme has been available since 2018. It is delivered by ITE partnerships and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) on behalf of the Welsh Government.

It supports the Cymraeg 2050 Welsh language strategy. Cymraeg 2050 is the Welsh Government’s ambition to increase the number of Welsh teachers. Cymraeg 2050 has a target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

The Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive Scheme provides a £5,000 grant to students who undertake a secondary postgraduate ITE programme:

• through the medium of Welsh or
• to teach Welsh as a subject

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.

Students undertaking eligible ITE programmes prior to 2018 are not covered under these schemes.

The ITE incentive grants available reflect current 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.

Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive Scheme is a legal Scheme (“the Scheme”), made by the Welsh Ministers in the exercise of their powers. The scheme is reviewed on an annual basis. Each Scheme makes provision for secondary postgraduate ITE students, studying their accredited ITE programme through the medium of Welsh or training to teach Welsh as a subject access to these incentives.

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

The incentive payments totalling £5,000 will be made in 2 instalments. They will be paid at the following points:

• £2,500 in July/August on successful completion of their PGCE and the 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.
• £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 in before 31^st December. 

If a student started an ITE programme between September 2018 and August 2023 they should apply to the Welsh Government. Please refer students to guidance related to the relevant year of study. 

If a student started an ITE programme from September 2023 they should register directly with their ITE Partnership. 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 and been awarded an Induction certificate. Within three years, following award of QTS
• undertaken induction in a Welsh Medium secondary school

or

• in any maintained secondary school if teaching Welsh as a subject
• received the QTS payment for 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 payments made on award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

The EWC are responsible for the final incentive payment. This is paid to eligible students who train at a Welsh Medium school or train to teach Welsh at a maintained school. 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:

• identifying students that meet the eligibility criteria
• 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
• completing claim forms in line with QTS award dates (as detailed within the grant offer letter)
• supporting students to complete deferment and resumption forms as necessary
• sharing this information in a secure manner that complies with data protection requirements in force at the time with Welsh Government along with relevant claims
• administering QTS grant payments to students
• 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

Full responsibilities for ITE Partnerships are issued annually in individual grant offer letters and contract letters. ITE Partnerships should contact ITEIncentives@gov.wales. if they have any queries.

How the payment will be paid to ITE Partnerships

Each Student should complete a registration form. The registration form contains information that the Welsh Government requires to administer and 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 a claim form to the Welsh Government. This will ensure appropriate funds are released for payment of the QTS instalment. ITE Partnerships will be informed of the submission dates 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 that complies with data protection requirements in force at the time, to Welsh Government (as detailed within their grant offer letter)
• 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 quires, 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.

Information which student submits as part of their claim under the Iaith Athrawon Yfory 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 require 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 Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive Scheme: privacy notice and privacy notice: Welsh Government grants.

Scheme documentation

Iaith Athrawon Yfory Incentive 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.

In 2023 the Welsh Government launched a pilot bursary to support the retention of Welsh Medium teachers. The bursary will be available until 2028, the end of the pilot period. Final bursaries being paid in autumn 2028.

Under this Scheme a Bursary of £5,000 is available to teachers who have:

• been awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) from August 2020 onwards
• completed 3 years of teaching:
  • in a Welsh-medium secondary or middle school or
  • through the medium of Welsh in a bilingual secondary or middle school or
  • teaching Welsh as a subject in any maintained secondary or middle school, in Wales

Guidance and eligibility criteria on the Welsh in education teacher retention bursary is available.