Graduate Teacher Scholarship

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for a Graduate Teacher Scholarship, you must:

1. Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
2. Be currently completing your final year of initial teacher education studies (to be completed by the end of 2023) at a recognised Australian university or tertiary institution. Your studies will need to meet the department's and NESA’s academic requirements for employment as a secondary teacher of a high-demand subject area or a special education teacher.
3. Study in a subject area of need. These include:
   • mathematics
   • science (with physics)
   • Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) (design and technology in combination with: engineering studies or industrial technology – metal, timber or graphics/multimedia)
   • agriculture
   • special education secondary (years 7 - 12)
   • special education primary (years K - 6)
4. Not already hold a scholarship with the NSW Department of Education.
   
5. Be eligible for the department’s Graduate Recruitment Program and have submitted an application to teach in NSW public schools through the department's approval to teach process.
6. Be willing to accept appointment as a permanent full-time teacher in a NSW public school in an agreed location on completion of your studies for a minimum period of three consecutive years.
7. Be able to demonstrate that your English language proficiency is of a standard which would enable you to teach and interact effectively and confidently in a NSW public school. You will be required to undertake an assessment of your English language proficiency if you have not completed the full four years of required higher education in a country where English is the main language. This is a requirement to gain approval to teach in NSW public schools.

Agreed locations

The location preferences you selected in your approval to teach application will be considered as the areas where you would like to be appointed on completion of your studies.

If you wish to include any additional school education areas you can select either ‘Anywhere in the state’ or one or more individual school education areas.

If you select to be appointed ‘Anywhere in the state’, you are agreeing to be appointed to a school in one of the following school education areas: Albury, Armidale, Bankstown, Batemans Bay, Bathurst, Blacktown, Bondi, Bourke, Broken Hill, Campbelltown, Central Coast, Clarence/Coffs Harbour, Deniliquin, Dubbo, Fairfield, Granville, Griffith, Hornsby, Lake Macquarie, Lismore, Liverpool, Maitland, Moree, Mount Druitt, Muswellbrook, Newcastle, Northern Beaches, Orange, Parramatta, Penrith, Port Jackson, Port Macquarie, Queanbeyan, Ryde, Shellharbour, St George, Sutherland, Tamworth, Taree, Tweed Heads/Ballina, Wagga Wagga, Windsor or Wollongong.

If you wish to include any additional individual school education areas, you should note that your chances of receiving a scholarship are enhanced if you select metropolitan locations where teachers are in high-demand and/or non-coastal rural or remote locations where teachers are in high-demand.

The metropolitan areas where teachers are in high-demand are: Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Granville, Liverpool and Mount Druitt.

The non-coastal rural areas where teachers are in high-demand are: Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bourke, Broken Hill, Deniliquin, Dubbo, Griffith, Moree, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

Applicants are encouraged to download and view the organisation of public schools by staffing area resource to view the schools included within the school education areas.