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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 offer second, third and final year STEM, Design Technology and Modern Foreign Language undergraduates and masters students paid experience of working in schools in the summer term, from Monday 15 June to 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.
Please note that first year undergraduates students are no longer eligible to take part.
Successful candidates will receive £1,365 for completion* of a 3-week summer internship at a secondary school in Devon, Plymouth, Somerset (Taunton and Wellington subject to availability) 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.
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
Deadline for applications is Sunday 22nd February 2026 and interviews will take place online in the Spring term.
For any information not covered here please email headteacher@exeterms.ac.uk.
Please read the Privacy Notice from the Department of Education which highlights how your information is used.
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 £1,275 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 2025, 85% 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!
Nick Dean, Mathematics Teacher 2021, had this to say:
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.
Physics intern grasping opportunities to develop as an NQT
Ekaete Ibiro Offong, Physics Teacher 2021, had this to say:
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.