Saffron Teaching School Hub as a Lead Partner with Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training


Who are we?

Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training (Mid Essex ITT) is an Ofsted-outstanding secondary teacher training specialist, working with a partnership of 16 schools to train teachers across the country.

Well established since 1994, Mid Essex ITT has enabled hundreds of trainees to gain QTS and the PGCE. All training is school based; while on the course trainees have the support of experienced practising teaching staff in two schools, as well as the provider’s dedicated core team of Course Tutors and Directors.

Saffron Teaching School Hub, as a Lead Partner with Mid Essex ITT, offers a range of teacher training routes at Secondary level, including salaried, fee-paying, flexible part-time training routes and Assessment Only.

Further information about different routes and course options can be found by:

Download the Mid Essex ITT brochure here.

You can also find out about getting school experience with Mid Essex ITT here.

Upcoming Mid Essex ITT events

Event details Date & time Phase Venue Details & booking link

One-to-One Teacher Training Advice with Mid Essex ITT

Book a date & time of your choice Secondary Online Book your appointment here
Training as a teacher in Essex with Mid Essex ITT  Wednesday 13th November, 4:30-6pm Secondary

Notley High School, CM7 1WY

BOOK HERE

How do I apply?

Applications are now open for teacher training courses for the 2025-2026 academic year, via the Department for Education's Apply for Teacher Training service.

To apply for teacher training with Saffron Teaching School Hub as a Lead Partner with Mid Essex ITT:

1) Click on the pink button below to go to the Department for Education Apply for Teacher Training website.

2) Once you have registered on the DfE Apply for Teacher Training website, search for Saffron Teaching School Hub as the training provider. You will get course/routes at this point to help refine your search. Saffron Teaching School Hub courses with Mid Essex ITT are listed as 'QTS ratified by Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training'.

3) To find Saffron Teaching School Hub's unique course codes for Mid Essex ITT training courses, expand the heading below:

Course codes

 
Subject Course type Course code
Art & Design PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) C543
Biology PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) P977
Business Studies PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) A298
Chemistry PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) R544
Computing PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) E547
Design & Technology PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) J525
Drama PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) J689
English PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) M369
Geography PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) X806
History PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) H647
Mathematics PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) E092
Modern Languages (French, German, Spanish) PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) D120
Music PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) U937
Physical Education PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) V656
Physical Education with an EBacc subject PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) T677
Physics PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) G233
Religious Education PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) F408
Social Sciences PGCE with QTS (full time or part time) G272
 

What subjects are available to train in with Saffron Teaching School Hub as a Lead Partner with Mid Essex ITT?

Mid Essex ITT Secondary subjects include Art & Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computing, Design & Technology, Drama, English, Geography, History, Maths, MFL, Music, Physical Education, Physics, RE and Social Sciences.

Some of these subjects will be offered as salaried and part-time options and all will be offered as non-salaried options.

What routes are available to me when training with Saffron Teaching School Hub as a Lead Partner with Mid Essex ITT?

We offer four routes:

  • Fee-paying routes
  • Salaried routes
  • Flexible-part time routes
  • Assessment Only

Not all routes are available for our courses, so check carefully or talk to us.

Tell me more about the course

  • Provider-led training one day a week and then school-based training with an expert mentor to support you. Weekly timetabled mentor meeting slot allocated to each trainee to allow you to reflect on your learning against the curriculum.
  • PGCE offered, in addition to the QTS teacher training qualification offered on all routes.
  • You will train in two contrasting school settings.
  • You will have access to subject specialist mentors offering bespoke subject training days throughout the course and a subject ITT training curriculum.
  • The course is one academic year and the possibility of part-time over two years.

What qualifications do I get if I pass the course?

If you successfully complete the course, you will be awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This professional qualification is required to teach in state schools in England and Wales. Both the QTS and PGCE routes are equally valued by schools who want to employ the absolute best teachers in their schools.

Those trainees on the PGCE route work with Anglia Ruskin University on a PGCE which includes conducting a classroom-based action research project.

Where will I train?

You will have two placements from a list of our excellent partner schools. Expand the heading below to see a list of our partner schools.

Partner schools

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is against the curriculum you are taught, and evidence is created against this curriculum. This might take the form of a range of evidence including lesson plans, lesson observations by expert teaching professionals, assessment data for your classes - all of which you collect throughout the course. This evidence feeds into three reports, all leading to QTS.

What does Mid Essex ITT have to offer me?

  • Mid Essex ITT has a small, friendly team of staff who get to know all the trainees well and are able to offer personalised support for them throughout the course.
  • We have links with more than 20 Essex schools.
  • We have an excellent employment record - virtually all of our successful trainees are offered Early Career Teacher (ECT) teaching posts, many within the schools in our partnership.
  • All of our training is run by experienced, practising teachers.
  • We offer fortnightly professional ‘Core’ training - this is normally held in person at Notley High School & Braintree Sixth Form.
  • We offer fortnightly subject-specific training.
  • Trainees have the support of a Mentor, Professional Tutor and Lead Subject Tutor, as well as our Course Tutors, Directors and Administrator.
  • Mid Essex ITT is fully committed to fairness and equality. We strive to recruit from all backgrounds and value the diversity this brings to the profession. We have full disabled access at our training venue and at a number of schools. We welcome any requests from applicants concerning anything we can do to support you as you apply to join the course.
  • We have more than 28 years’ teaching experience and more than 850 alumni.
  • We have a commitment to safer recruitment and safeguarding within our schools.

Eligibility

To apply for a place on our courses you must have:

  • A UK undergraduate degree (grade 2:2 or above) or a recognised equivalent qualification*
  • A grade 4/C GCSE in English and Mathematics, or equivalent *

* UK ENIC verification is required for all overseas degree and GCSE equivalent qualifications. You can check your overseas qualifications at the UK ENIC website.

You can also read more about eligibility on the DfE Get into Teaching website.

If English is not your first language, we will require you to gain an IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System, Academic Test) overall score of 6.5. IELTS Academic is an internationally recognised system for demonstrating fluency in English (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking).

If using IELTS for English GCSE equivalence, then Mid Essex ITT require an overall score of 6.5.   

If you are not sure about eligibility please contact our friendly office at admin@midessexteachertraining.com

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

Mid Essex ITT is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in teacher training and celebrates a diverse and inclusive workforce. We aim to create a safe space for all trainee teachers and strive to educate ourselves to get a better awareness of the nine protected characteristics.

Saffron Teaching School and Mid Essex ITT are committed to equality of opportunity for all and actively oppose all forms of discrimination. We have a responsibility to ensure that trainees have the health and capacity to train to teach and will not put children and young people at risk of harm, whilst meeting the expectations of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to the offer of reasonable adjustments. See here for possible reasonable adjustments.