Teacher Training

Student bursary and other fees paid by the school

Students receive a basic bursary of £450 monthly from the school, payable on the last day of each month from September 2010 to July 2011.
In addition to the basic bursary, a discretionary termly bonus of up to £550 may be awarded, at the discretion of the headmistress, subject to satisfactory attendance on the MCI course and conduct at the school and an end-of-term interview with the headmistress in December, March and July. To qualify for this discretionary bonus a student must provide evidence at regular intervals that:

• The student is up-to-date with all assignments for the MCI
• The student's spoken English is of a high standard (or the student is taking measures to improve his or her command of the language)
• The student's punctuality and attendance record are both very good.

A contract incorporating these and other details is exchanged between the school and the student.
Lunch is provided free of charge each day during term time.

Whilst technically taxable, in practice, unless the student has income from other sources, no tax is deducted because everyone is entitled to tax-free income of £6,475 in the tax year (which runs from 6 April in one year to 5 April in the next). If the student has paid tax on pay received between April and August before starting the course, this is likely to be repaid automatically over the autumn term. National insurance contributions (effectively a payroll tax) would be likely to amount to between £173 and £198 over the 11 months of the course.
In addition the school pays the fees (a total of approximately £3,110) charged by MCI for:

• The distance learning course (approx £950)
• The teaching practice assessment (approx £750)
• The workshop (approx £800)
• The examination fees (approx £260)
• All lectures and seminars (approx £350)

Thus the basic bursary and the study fees are together worth approximately £8,060 in addition to which a discretionary bonus of up to £550 per term (£1,650 over the academic year) may be awarded.