The government has confirmed it will cut the length of the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship from 12 to nine months to bring them in line with the school year. The change, which will come into effect in August, comes as analysis shows interest in the route continues to increase, with recruitment already a third higher in the first half of this academic year compared with the same period last year. The is a one-year course for graduates and leads to both a level 6 qualification and qualified teacher status. It is different from the four-year teaching degree apprenticeship for non-graduates currently being piloted. But its 12-month minimum length causes a headache for schools. Apprentices gain QTS after nine months, meaning some drop out of the apprenticeship part of the training. If this happens, the government claws back funding. Analysis shows about 85 per cent of participants complete the year. The route has become increasingly popular as schools seek ways to spend money paid into the apprenticeship levy and trainees seek a way of earning while they learn. Schools Week analysis found there were 1,702 starts on the postgraduate apprenticeship between August 2024 and January this year, up 33 per cent from 1,283 in the same period the year before. Unlike other routes, apprentices don鈥檛 always start training in September. In 2023-24, more than 400 starts were registered between February and July. Figures from the Department for Education also show that last year about 2,800 eligible applicants were 鈥渦nable to secure a place on a coveted course鈥�. Ministers hope that by changing the course鈥檚 duration, more schools and providers will take on apprentices. ‘A simple solution’ Sir Andrew Carter is the former chief executive of the South Farnham Educational Trust, which hires dozens of apprentices every year and was involved in the route鈥檚 design. He said the 12-month rule 鈥渁dded a great sense of jeopardy鈥� to hiring apprentices, and his trust had wanted a change 鈥渇or a very long time鈥�. Sir Andrew Carter Carter said more schools would now hire apprentices, which was an 鈥渙pportunity for the DfE and others, all of us in the business鈥� to convince sceptical leaders of the benefits of the course. 鈥淚t’s such a simple solution. Recruitment in England and Wales is simply solved, and yet we don’t seem to have grasped the nettle.鈥� Pepe Di鈥橧asio, the general secretary of the leaders鈥� union ASCL, said there was a limited number of places available largely because of the demand placed on employers. 鈥淭here are workload implications for the school as a whole, as well as individual teachers and the apprentice themselves, and this needs to be supported with appropriate investment.鈥� He said shortening the apprenticeships would make them 鈥渆asier to accommodate, but the fact remains that apprenticeships are only a suitable route into teaching for a relatively small number of people鈥�. The DfE insisted courses would still offer 鈥渢he same high-quality content, but at a reduced length, with trainees gaining qualified teacher status after they have completed the programme, going on to build successful careers in teaching鈥�. Catherine McKinnell, the schools minister, said bringing teaching apprenticeships in line with the school year was “not only logical, it will open the doors for more and more people to become brilliant teachers鈥�.