Students commencing teaching degrees in 2025 can now apply for scholarships worth up to $40,000 which are designed to encourage more people to become teachers in places like the Central Coast.

The Federal Labor Government is delivering on its election promise to deliver the $160 million Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program.

In designing the scholarships, the Government consulted with school principals and teachers, who spoke about the scholarships they received and how they often included a requirement to teach for a period of time.

Based on this feedback, the scholarships will include a ‘commitment to teach’ requirement, which means recipients must be willing to commit to teach for four years (undergraduate) and two years (postgraduate) in government-run schools or early learning settings.

The scholarships are targeted at high-achieving school leavers, mid-career professionals, 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.

Central Coast students who are considering studying to become a teacher should consider registering.

Scholarships of $40,000 each will be available for undergraduate teaching students over four years and $20,000 for postgraduate students over two years.

To encourage more teachers to live and work in remote Australia, students completing their final year professional experience placements in these communities may receive an additional top-up payment of $2,000.

This also builds on the Government’s program to cut HECS-HELP debt for teachers in very remote areas.

The Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program forms part of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.  

More information on the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program, including information on the application process, is at: education.gov.au/teaching-scholarships 

Applications close on Monday 13 January 2025 at 5pm AEDT. 

Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid MP:

“The Federal Labor Government is committed to encouraging more people to study to become a teacher on the Central Coast.

“This is one of the ways we are working to boost the teacher workforce in areas that need it the most.

“I encourage our best and brightest Central Coast students to register for one of these scholarships.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“Being a teacher is the most important job in the world and we don't have enough of them. Teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world. And we need more of them.

“I want more young people to leap out of high school and want to become a teacher, rather than a lawyer or a banker.

“And I want more people in the middle of their careers to consider becoming teachers.

“That’s what these scholarships are all about.

“This is one part of our plan to tackle the teacher workforce shortage and builds on our reforms to teacher training and the Commonwealth Prac Payment for teaching students.”

ENDS