Erica Stanford expands school onsite teacher training to 704 annual places

Education Minister Erica Stanford says the Government will expand the School Onsite Training Programme to 704 places every year from 2028, part of a $21.7 million five-year investment aimed at producing more classroom-ready teachers and steering training places toward schools and subjects with the greatest need.

The 3 August announcement is a workforce story as much as an education policy story. The programme has grown from 147 places in 2024 to 528 in 2026. It is scheduled to provide 660 places next year and 704 each year from 2028. Stanford said more than 3,000 teachers will have been trained through the programme by 2029. Participants are able to spend up to three days a week in classrooms while completing formal study, and 2027 participants will receive a stipend of $20,660 to help with course fees and living costs.

The policy responds to a practical concern heard from schools: new graduates may understand theory but still need more time in real classrooms before taking full responsibility for students. Stanford cited an Education Review Office finding that only one in five principals considered new teacher graduates ready for the classroom. The onsite model is designed to shorten that gap by placing trainee teachers alongside experienced teachers, routines, students and school communities earlier in their preparation.

The Government is also changing how places are targeted. The Beehive release says primary teacher training was added in 2025 because shortages were affecting both primary and secondary schools. As workforce data now shows a small oversupply of primary teachers, more of the available places will be weighted toward secondary teacher training. Stanford said future places could also be directed toward secondary subjects where shortages are identified.

Rural and isolated communities are another focus. The programme allows providers to offer online options so trainees can remain in communities where teachers are needed. That detail matters because a teacher shortage does not feel the same everywhere. A large urban school may struggle to find specialist subject teachers, while a small rural school may have fewer local candidates and higher barriers for people who would otherwise have to leave the district to train.

The Government is also funding 50 extra places in the Teacher Bonding Scheme, increasing the 2026/27 cohort from 185 to 235. That scheme is intended to help schools with persistent staffing challenges attract and retain teachers. Taken together, the onsite training expansion and bonding increase show a shift toward using workforce data to put incentives and training routes where pressure is strongest.

For parents, the promise is straightforward: new teachers should arrive with more practical confidence from day one. For schools, the test will be whether the expanded places turn into stable staffing in hard-to-fill communities and subjects, rather than only lifting national training numbers. The programme's growth is significant, but its success will depend on placement quality, mentor capacity, subject targeting and whether trainees stay in the schools and regions that need them most.