EDUCATION unions warned extra funding is needed for teaching apprenticeships today, after the government announced it was cutting the length of the programmes from 12 to nine months.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said bringing the postgraduate teaching apprenticeship (PGTA) courses in line with other post-graduate programmes so they fit into a school year “is a welcome move and an act of common sense.”

But he added: “It is extremely challenging for schools to support trainees properly in the current funding environment.