Paid Internships for Teachers with Blackdown Education Partnership and South West Teacher Training

In partnership with South West Institute for Teaching/Blackdown Education Partnership and South West Teacher Training, Exeter Maths School are delighted to be able to continue to offer STEM (including Design and Technology) and Modern Foreign Language undergraduates and master’s students paid experience of working in schools in the summer term, from Monday 15 June – Friday 3 July 2026.

Our internships are open to students currently studying at university (including master’s students) who are considering a career teaching Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages or Physics. Interns will have the opportunity to work alongside teachers in schools, receive training and get advice about how to get into teaching. The programme is funded by the Department of Education’s Get into Teaching service.

Successful candidates will receive £1,365 for completion* of a 3-week summer internship at a secondary school in Devon, Plymouth, Somerset or Torbay.

*Should an intern not complete the full 15 days, this amount will be adjusted accordingly.

Further details on the role and the participation requirements can be found on the Role Description and Person Specification below.

Paid Internships for Teachers Role Description 2026

Paid Internships for Teachers Person Specification 2026

Apply!

To apply for the programme please complete the online application form at the following link – Paid Internships for Teachers – Application Form (2026) – Fill in form.

Interviews will take place online in the Spring term – further information available in January 2026.

For any information not covered here please email headteacher@exeterms.ac.uk.

Please find attached the Privacy Notice from the Department of Education which highlights how your information is used. This is from the Internship in 2025 and we will update with the new Privacy Notice when it becomes available in January 2026. Privacy Notice – Teaching Internships Programme 2025.

Paid Internships for Teachers - Information

Aims of the Internship

The aims of this internship programme are to provide potential future teachers with the opportunity to:

Gain an insight into teaching as a profession
Develop an understanding of effective classroom practice
Share their passion for their subject with students
Have a positive impact on students’ learning
Be supported in the process of applying for teacher training
Receive additional support in their early teaching career

By doing so we aim to have a positive impact on the recruitment and retention of teachers of shortage subjects in the South West.

Programme Overview

Internships will take place in the summer term and will last three weeks.

The activities that take place will offer interns the chance to gain a deep experience of teaching, and may include:

structured training, shadowing and lesson observation, followed by a chance to jointly plan and deliver lessons;
one-to-one mentors who are good or outstanding classroom teachers in their specialism;

and

opportunities to network with qualified subject specialists
take part in professional development workshops for teachers
completion of a mini-research project

Placement Schools will provide:

A School Based Mentor who will take responsibility for supervising the intern whilst on placement
A structured induction to the school
A timetable which has between 15 -18 hours of classroom based experience
A range of experiences whilst on placement

Exeter Maths School / Blackdown Education Partnership / South West Teacher Training will provide:

Overview training
A mentor
Quality assurance process
Enrichment activities

Payments

Interns must commit to full attendance to be able to take part in the internship.

A payment of £1,365 will be made at the conclusion of the internship if there has been full attendance. A pro-rata reduction will be made for days missed.

Paid Internships for Teachers - Feedback from Previous Interns

We have been providing STEM internships for students considering a career in teaching since 2018 (with a gap in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic).

100% of interns, in all the years we have run the programme, agreed that they would recommend this internship to others who are considering teaching as a career.

In 2024, 80% of interns were more likely to go into teaching as a result of their experience

A few internship highlights

Visiting and working in multiple schools

Teaching the majority of a lesson

Experiencing different teachers and their approaches

Jumping into a whole new environment

Supportive teachers

Routes into teaching was very informative

Working with students 1-2-1

Great insight into the teaching profession

Seeing differentiation in bottom set classes

Teaching episodes where it has made a difference

Key learning for interns

Building confidence in public speaking

What it takes to be a successful teacher

How difficult and rewarding the job can be

How to get into teaching

Learning the thought processes of teaching children

The different cultures of schools

The importance of being adaptable

Communicating effectively with young people

Differentiating teaching for different groups of students

Teaching is much more than subject knowledge

Quotes from our interns

“Great experience! Thank you so much.”

“The internship as a whole has really built my confidence. Great team spirit with other interns. Thank you!”

“Thanks so much for this opportunity. Funding also great as I could take time off work.”

“Each part of this internship has been very valuable in thinking through teaching. Thank you!”

“The experience has been amazing and it has been so informative. I cannot thank you guys enough for this opportunity.”

“This was a really valuable experience”

2018 intern now teaching maths and loving it!

I took part in the EMS internship in my penultimate year of university when I was still exploring possible career options. I knew I was passionate about education, but this was my first opportunity to experience school from the perspective of a teacher. Going into it I wasn’t sure whether I’d be any good at teaching, but actually going into schools and doing a few teaching episodes with small groups built my confidence; I found I absolutely loved talking about maths with students all day, and a year later I started my PGCE in secondary mathematics. I’m now thrilled to be back at EMS as a newly qualified maths teacher! I strongly recommend this internship to anybody considering a career as a maths or physics teacher.

Nick Dean, Mathematics Teacher, 2021

Physics intern grasping opportunities to develop as an NQT

I completed an internship with the Ted Wragg Trust in the summer of 2018 after completing my second year of university. I’ve always wanted to become a teacher and this was the perfect route for me to gain some experience before embarking on a PGCE course. The internship consisted of a 4 week block at a school in Exeter and I got observe lessons and learn about the day-to-day experience of teaching. I even got to join the students for an enrichment week! After that, I went on to do my PGCE with South West Teacher Training and it has been a wonderful experience from training to now almost completing my NQT year at Exeter Maths school. I have been given many opportunities to learn, grow and develop as a teacher and I would recommend this internship to anybody who is interested in a career in teaching.

Ekaete Ibiro Offong, Physics Teacher, 2021