Teacher Mentoring Programme (TMP)
On 28 March 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the next phase of government support for FE teacher mentoring through the Teacher Mentoring Programme. Following a competitive procurement, DfE has signed a two-year contract with Cognition Learning Group for delivery of the programme which will run until 31 March 2025.
- Opening date:
- Closing date:
Contents
Summary
TMP Offer
Objective A - Early Career Teacher Mentor Training Programme. Provision of training to a minimum of 600 mentors who in turn will provide mentoring to 1,800 FE early career teachers (less than three years of experience).
Two mentor training programmes will be made available to the sector: a ‘Mentoring skills’ course for new mentors and an “Advanced mentoring skills” course for experienced mentors. Both programmes will offer:
· Up to 27.5hrs of guided learning delivered by Cognition Learning Group experienced trainers
· 18hrs of mentoring practice Five cohorts of training (10 weeks in duration) will be delivered across the next two FYs, with an optional £5,000 grant funding per mentor on offer (see Objective C).
Objective B - Mentoring Quality Support. To improve the general quality of mentoring infrastructures within FE, through promotion of government-owned mentoring resources and provision of development opportunities. This includes:
· FE providers or provider groups will be able to apply for a grant of up to £1,500 between September 2023 – March 2025 to develop mentoring networks. Mentoring networks provide an opportunity to maximise on collaboration, share mentoring experience and learning across the sector to embed a culture of mentoring across FE.
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Objective C - Optional grant funding available to support engagement with the ECT mentor training programme. Aimed to create additional mentoring capacity by funding extra mentoring hours and to tackle issues of staff resourcing and time.
· Maximum grant value of £1.25m in FY23-24 and £1.75m in FY24-25 will be available. Grant applications will be assessed on a first-come-first served basis.
· Providers can apply for optional grants of up to £5,000 per mentor enrolled on the ECT TMP programme. See Objective A. (There is a cap of 5 mentors per provider meaning a maximum of £25,000 is available per provider).
Eligibility
To be eligible for the TMP, public and private FE providers (excluding the *exemptions listed below) must hold one of the following approved contracts directly with ESFA:
· Apprenticeships (including carry-in, procured non-levy and Apprenticeship Service non-levy and levy)
· 16-19 Programmes (excluding Academy/School Funding)
· 16-18 Traineeships
· Adult Education Budget (excluding devolved AEB
· 19+ Traineeships
· National Careers Service
· European Social Funding
· Advanced Learner Loans Facility & Bursary
· Skills Bootcamp Funding
The provider must have an allocated UKPRN number-https://www.ukrlp.co.uk/ be in England and offer training in England.
*Ineligible providers include: Schools / School Sixth Forms, Academies, Studio Schools or University Technical Colleges. Sixth Form Colleges that are currently in the process of, or planning conversion to, an academy in 2023 to 2024 academic year are also not eligible to apply for the TMP.
Mentor & Mentee Eligibility
· The mentor must be contracted directly by the providers
· The mentor must be directly mentoring FE teachers (ECTs) Providers must confirm they are not in receipt of funding that duplicates or overlap with any other DfE funded programmes
· Mentors cannot take part in a programme they have previously partially or fully completed.
· A mentee must be a teacher with less than three years of experience
Objectives
The TMP programme aims to:
Deliver on the Skills for Jobs white paper commitment to provide effective support to new teachers moving into the sector by providing access to mentoring.
Improve access to and quality of mentoring for practitioners in the Further Education and Training sector.
Support and improve the retention of teaching staff within FE, with a particular focus on Early Career Teachers (ECTs).
Dates
- Cohort 1 - 6 November 2023 – 9 February 2024
· Cohort 2 - 5 February 2024 – 17 May 2024
How to apply
Submit your expression of interest and, if your organisation is found eligible, you can then formally apply for the Teacher Mentoring Programme, including mentor grants if required.
Find out more and access everything you need to apply at: https://cognitionmentoringprogrammes.com/teacher-mentoring-programme/
Please email the TMP team at tmpenquiries@cognitioneducation.com with any questions you might have.