Edge Hill University mentors have high expectations of trainees and are committed to EHU’s vision of working together to transform life chances for children/young people. This will be underpinned by evidenced-based approaches, including the principles of instructional coaching (Kraft et al., 2018).

Mentors will be experienced classroom experts who draw on research-informed principles in dialogic processes of teacher improvement (Knight., 2007). Effective mentors will make accurate judgements about trainees’ performance, providing frequent and appropriate opportunities to rehearse effective teaching habits (Sims et al., 2021).

If the Initial Mentor Audit has suggested that you are on Path A as a mentor, those who have not yet completed NPQ, ECF or Masters qualifications, you can access the OMNIS units related to the EHU curriculum, which will be recognized as notional DfE hours and can be completed with Edge Hill University (or with another accredited provider). 

• Supporting Trainees’ Workload and wellbeing (1 notional hour)

• Target setting and Feedback within the Weekly Development Summary (WDS) (1 notional hour)

• An Introduction to the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF) (1 notional hour)

• Behaviour Management for Mentors (1 notional hour)

• Assessing trainee progress (1 notional hour)

• Supporting Inclusive Mentoring: with a choice of optional units ADHD, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, EDI (2 notional hours)

• Intensive training and practice (1 notional hour)

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DfE Funding for Schools

Funding guidance for schools is here (Conditions of grant- initial teacher training reform funding) and gives school partners the information they will require for understanding the funding conditions and how to claim in Spring 2025.  

Conditions of funding Guidance (click on title)

For a school to claim this funding, the mentor must:

• Undertake up to 20 hours of initial mentor training.
• Mentor at least one trainee in the academic year.

A school cannot claim funding if a mentor completed their training but does not work with a trainee.

This funding applies to schools that:

• Offer placements to student teachers, including special schools, pupil referral units, independent schools, early years settings and further education organisations;
• Have General Mentors working with student teachers who started or returned to their training at any time between 1 September 2024 and 31 May 2025;
• Have General Mentors that intended to work with student teachers who would have started their training any time between 1 September 2024 and 31 May 2025, however the student teacher withdrew or took a leave of absence from the programme after the mentor training had started.

Payments

For each mentor that completes the full 20 hours of training:

• The school can claim £876 (£43.80 per hour).
• The school must submit their claims by the end of July 2025.
• Payment will be paid in arrears from September 2025.

Mentor Hours Update EHU November 2024

While there is no longer a minimum training time requirement, requirements relating to the quality, content and coverage of mentor training have not changed, and mentors will still need to have the same knowledge, skills and abilities as previously detailed in the ITT Criteria and Supporting Advice. As we have received positive feedback on our mentor development and support strategy, we will continue with our expectation for all mentors to complete the light touch mentor audit, core and phase mentor training (as with previous years) with the option to complete further professional development units on our Omnis platform at the mentor’s discretion.  

Schools in England will still be able to claim up to 20 hours of funding per mentor per provider for this academic year and we will continue to track your mentor’s engagement with training materials and mentoring activities. This will enable us to provide you with a detailed and accurate breakdown of hours prior to your claim submission date. 

Thank you for your continued support and expertise, we know how critical your role is in supporting and shaping tomorrow’s teachers. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any further information. [email protected]  

DFE Update January 2025

As part of the ITT reform the DfE have released updated guidance on how to claim for the general mentor training grant. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the ITT reform funding guidance and does not replace it.

As per the guidance Edge Hill University will align with the timelines outlined on page 5 (see below). This will ensure schools can meet the first funding application window which closes in Mid-July 2025. (A second and final application window will open in September 2025.)

Activity	Key dates
Conditions of grant published	April 2024
GOV.UK service opens allowing school users to join the service and to review the grant terms and conditions	Early 2025
Schools submit a claim for general mentor funding in the GOV.UK service	From May 2025
First application window closes, to enable September 2025 payments(1)	Mid-July 2025
Payment is made to schools	From September 2025
At least 10% of claims are audited with evidence required to be provided by schools and providers.	From December 2025

(1) A second and final application window will open in September 2025.

At the beginning of July, we will contact you with a report detailing the number of hours of training completed by each of your mentors who are eligible to claim. This document can then be used to support your claim.

Please ensure that you retain any evidence relating to your claim. E.g. supply cover invoices, in readiness for any audit that may take place (see page 8 – Audit section for schools).

If you have any questions about the general mentor training grant guidance, please contact [email protected]

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OMNIS – Further Guidance

To access the Core Mentor Training and bite sized mentor development units you will initially need to Sign-up for an account with the online learning platform OMNIS.

Please ensure you use your professional email address to sign up – the same one you use to contact the University, as this will be linked to your mentoring record and provide a record for DfE.

During the Sign-up process, if you don’t receive the validation token code, you will need to ask your IT administrators to allow the [email protected] email address.

Alternatively, contact the team and we can help you.

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Supportive Strategies

We have several additional packages available to help you in your support of students with specific needs. These are included within the Core Mentor Training course where you can achieve a certificate when completed but if you simply wish to view the resources and packages, you can do so here:

• ADHD
• Autism
• Dyscalculia
• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia