What are the Commonwealth teaching scholarships?

Against the backdrop of falling teacher numbers, governments at state and federal levels are rushing to help plug the gap. At the federal level, the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships are delivering on Action 2 of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.

A spokesperson for the Australian Government Department of Education said the scholarships are “targeted at high-achieving school leavers and mid-career professionals.” A minimum ATAR of 80 is required for undergraduate students (compared to 70 for non-scholarship students entering teaching).

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Recipients will receive up to $10,000 per year for their study, totalling $40,000 for undergraduate studies and $20,000 for postgraduate studies in initial teacher education.

First Nations peoples, people with disability, people from whom English is an additional language or dialect and individuals from rural, regional and remote locations or from low socio-economic backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The program is only open to people about to start their teaching studies, and current teachers or students are not eligible.

There will be five rounds of the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships, with the first round already complete. “More than 3,000 applications were received, with almost 1,000 scholarships awarded,” said the AGDC spokesperson.

Throughout the five-year program, more than 5,000 scholarships will be awarded to new teaching students across Australia and the second round of scholarships will open later this year for teaching students commencing their studies in 2025.

There is a catch, however, with all scholarship recipients agreeing to teach for the equivalent amount of years in a government-run school or early learning setting. In other words, recipients of the undergraduate program will have a ‘commitment to teaching’ for four years, while the post-graduate scholarships come with a two-year commitment. Teachers can work part-time, but the full-time equivalent must be met within ten years.

Commitments post-graduation are not new to the sector, with compulsory country service a common requirement for Australian teachers. Used to address shortages in remote and rural areas, the policy was formalised in various states between the 1950s and 1980s. Known as ‘bonding’, graduates were required to work for a certain number of years in the country before requesting a transfer back to the city/metropolitan areas.

The program was phased out by the 1990s, but there are other programs in place today to incentivise teachers to work in rural and remote areas, such as Teach First in Country (South Australia), and the Country Teaching Program (Western Australia).

A spokesperson for the Australian Government Department of Education said “About 30 per cent (282 recipients) of the first cohort are from regional, rural and remote Australia.”

For further information or to register interest in the next scholarship round, students should visit: www.education.gov.au/teaching-scholarships