General eligibility criteria

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

1. Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
2. Be continuing or entering an initial teacher education program (including initial integrated teacher education programs), or an undergraduate degree followed by an initial teacher education program, from Semester 1, 2024, 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 or in special education (K - 12).
3. Be willing to accept an appointment as a permanent full-time teacher in a NSW public school in an agreed location in line with your Scholarship Agreement on completion of your studies for a minimum period of three years.
4. 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 a NSW public school.

Inclusive/special education eligibility criteria

There are only three recognised initial teacher education programs in inclusive/special education in NSW. These are offered through the University of New England, the University of Newcastle and the Australian Catholic University.

The University of Newcastle course is available as an internship in the fourth year of study, and, as entry is not guaranteed, is only appropriate for a one-year scholarship applied for in your third or second last year.

A scholarship is only available to students who commenced the Bachelor of Education (Secondary and Special Education) or Bachelor of Education (Primary and Special Education) at the Australian Catholic University from 2021 onwards.

Agreed locations

As part of the application process, you will be asked to select either ‘Anywhere in the State’ or at least five individual school education areas where you would like to be appointed on completion of your studies.

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 select five or more individual school education areas, you must select metropolitan locations 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.