Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Frequently Asked Questions

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If you have completed more than one qualification/degree, you will need to decide which results you would like to be assessed as part of your application. Please note that PhD certificates/testamurs are not accepted for this scholarship, as PhDs do not receive graded results. In such cases, you must provide an academic transcript from your next highest completed and graded qualification, such as a Master’s degree or Bachelor degree (Honours). The transcript should clearly display a GPA, WAM, or numeric or lettered grades.

If you want to submit more than one piece of academic evidence to support your application, you will need to combine all relevant documents into a single file before uploading. The file must be formatted as either .jpeg, .jpg, .pdf, or .png. Please note that applications will be considered ineligible if you upload a document that is not one of the above file types.

To be eligible to apply for a scholarship, you must be able to provide one of the listed forms of academic evidence set out in the CTS Assessment and Selection Policy (section 4.1). If you do not have any of these forms of evidence, you are not eligible to apply for a Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship.

The scholarships are awarded on merit. The ‘high-achieving students with an ATAR of 80 or above (or equivalent)’ cohort should only be selected if an applicant can provide official evidence to support this selection. If an applicant selects this cohort but submits evidence of an ATAR or equivalent that is below 80, the application will be deemed ineligible.

No. If you are currently completing an accredited teaching degree, you are not eligible to apply. The only exception to this is if you commenced an employment-based pathway program that requires you to begin slightly before the year you are applying for a scholarship. For example, if you are interested in applying for a scholarship in Round 3 and your employment-based pathway program requires you to begin in November 2025, you will still be able to apply for a scholarship in Round 3, provided you meet all other eligibility requirements. Official evidence from your higher education provider will be required to support this.

Yes. You will be asked to provide official evidence of your withdrawal if your application progresses to the Conditional Offer stage.

No. You must be starting an accredited teaching degree in the first semester or study period of the year that you are applying to the scholarship (Round 1 – 2024 (closed), Round 2 – 2025 (closed), Round 3 – 2026, Round 4 – 2027, Round 5 – 2028). 

A detailed list of the eligibility requirements for applying to the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship Program can be found on the Eligibility and Applying page. Additional information is also available in the Assessment and Selection Policy and the Scholarship Guidelines for the Round that you are applying to. You can also use the Eligibility Checker tool to see if you’re eligible to apply. The Eligibility Checker tool is to be used as a guide only and does not guarantee you will be awarded a scholarship.

Please note, the Department of Education cannot provide you with individualised advice on your eligibility or application.

No. To apply for a scholarship in Round 3, you must be commencing your studies in an accredited teaching degree in the first semester or study period of 2026. Bachelors of Education Studies and university pathway programs are not accredited teaching degrees. 

If you are not commencing an accredited teaching degree until the first semester or study period of 2027, you may be eligible to apply for a scholarship in Round 4. More information about Round 4 will be made available in late 2026. 

If you do not have an overall GPA or WAM on your academic transcript and you are unable to request one from the awarding education institution, you can submit the academic transcript as evidence and an overall score will be calculated on your behalf. The academic transcript must include numeric or letter grades.

You cannot provide your PhD certificate/testamur as evidence for this scholarship. As PhDs are ungraded, you will need to provide an academic transcript for your next highest graded qualification. This may be from a Masters degree or a Bachelor degree (Honours). The academic transcript must include a GPA, WAM or numeric or lettered grades.

To be eligible to apply for a scholarship, you must be able to provide one of the listed forms of academic evidence set out in the Assessment and Selection Policy (section 4.1.1 for Undergraduate applicants; section 4.1.2 for Postgraduate applicants).

No. You must complete an accredited teaching degree to be eligible to receive a scholarship. To check if your preferred degree is accredited, see the AITSL accredited programs list. If the degree is not on the AITSL list, you may want to contact the delivering higher education provider to check if the degree is undergoing accreditation.

No. Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship recipients can only study in courses that are accredited against the Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures (Accreditation Standards).

Some universities offer a Graduate Diploma of Teaching, enabling students to graduate after one year and teach in Western Australia with provisional registration. However, these Graduate Diplomas are not accredited against the Accreditation Standards and therefore not eligible under the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Program.

Scholarships provide financial assistance of up to $40,000 (equivalent to $10,000 per year of study), subject to recipients providing evidence of continued full-time enrolment in an accredited teaching degree. Recipients are obligated to teach for a time equivalent to the length of their degree (up to 2 or 4 years).

Accelerating your degree will impact the timeframes set out in your Scholarship Agreement and may also impact the amount of scholarship funding you will receive. For example, if you are an undergraduate CTS recipient who originally planned to complete your undergraduate degree in 4 years, but you decide to accelerate your course (this includes if you choose to undertake optional study periods such as summer sessions) and complete it in 3.5 years, the total scholarship funding you will receive will change to $35,000 and your Commitment to Teach obligation will change to 3.5 years (full-time equivalent). The 10-year timeframe to complete your Commitment to Teach obligation will start from your new expected completion date.

Accelerating your degree is a notifiable event. Notifiable events must be actioned in the required timeframes set out in your Scholarship Agreement. 

The same applies for postgraduate students.

Please note, accelerating your degree is different to an alternative exit. Recipients are strongly encouraged to contact the Department of Education before they decide to graduate with an alternative exit degree as this will impact their ability to meet their scholarship requirements.

You must be enrolled in an accredited teaching degree to be eligible to receive a scholarship. If you are enrolled in education units through Open Universities Australia, you must provide evidence confirming your enrolment in an accredited teaching degree.

Any recognition of prior learning towards an accredited teaching degree from units previously completed through Open Universities Australia, may impact the scholarship funding you receive and the length of your Commitment to Teach obligation.

You can teach in any government schools or government-run early learning settings in Australia. Once you have completed your Commitment to Teach obligation (up to 2 years or up to 4 years), there is no restriction on where you can teach.

Please refer to the relevant state or territory education department website to locate government schools and/or government run early learning settings.

More information about the Commitment to Teach obligation can be found on the Commitment to Teach page and in the Commitment to Teach Policy.

You can work in full-time, part-time, or casual/relief roles, or a combination of these.

If you teach on a part-time or casual basis, the full-time equivalent requirement must still be fulfilled.

For example, approximately 6.5 years teaching at a part-time rate (approx. 3 days a week for each year) may be equivalent to the 4 years full-time teaching required if you completed an undergraduate accredited teaching degree.

If you accept a scholarship and do not complete your accredited teaching degree or you do not complete your Commitment to Teach obligation, you may be required to pay back all, or part of, the scholarship funding received.

No. Any teaching undertaken prior to completion of your accredited teaching degree, even under an alternative authorisation to teach or permission to teach arrangement, does not count towards your Commitment to Teach obligation. This includes any teaching undertaken as part of an employment-based pathway.

More information about the Commitment to Teach obligation can be found on the Commitment to Teach page and in the Commitment to Teach Policy.

No. Applications will be checked against eligibility requirements and those that meet the eligibility requirements will be assessed on academic merit.

Meeting the eligibility requirements does not guarantee an applicant a scholarship.

No. The decision to award a scholarship is final and feedback on unsuccessful applications will not be provided. There is no appeal mechanism.

If you apply for a Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship, you can also apply for other scholarships or incentive programs. However, you must check that there are no restrictions and that you can meet the requirements of all programs.

No. You must be living in Australia and enrolled in an accredited teaching degree at an Australian higher education provider. You can check which programs are accredited on the AITSL website.

Yes. You can submit evidence from an international school or institution. You will need to provide an official academic statement from your institution that includes your GPA, overall score or grades. Evidence from an international school or institution must be in English or translated to English to be assessed.

If your international academic evidence does not include a GPA, WAM or overall numeric grade, an equivalent score will be calculated on your behalf.

A top up payment of $2,000 may be available to scholarship recipients who undertake a final-year professional experience placement in a government school or government-run early learning setting in a remote area.

Due to the limited number of top up payments available, there is no guarantee you will receive a top up payment even if you undertake a placement in a remote area.

For more information, please check out the Additional Payment for Remote Professional Experience Placements Policy on the Resources page.

Scholarship payments will be made once a Scholarship Agreement has been signed and correct financial information has been collected. 

Yearly payments of up to $10,000 will be made once evidence of continued full-time enrolment in an accredited teaching degree for a full academic year is provided. 

Payments will be made in a timely manner, however, please be aware that the volume of scholarship applications being assessed and management of existing recipients may delay this process.

Depending on your situation, some or all of the scholarship payment amount may constitute ordinary income for social security law purposes and may impact the rate at which a person receives a social security payment. 

You will need to seek your own advice from Centrelink or Services Australia with reference to your own particular circumstances.

Before applying you should visit the Study Assist website, so you know what to expect when studying full-time at the university level. The website has several student support resources as well as a comprehensive guide to higher education.

Alternatively, you may be able to access student support services from your higher education provider.

Scholarship recipients must maintain a full-time study load during their entire teaching degree. Changing your study load to part-time will result in your scholarship being withdrawn and you may have to repay any scholarship funding already received.

If you feel that you or your family need extra support or would like someone to talk to about your concerns, you might like to consider an independent counselling service.

Private and confidential support is available from:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Beyondblue on 1300 224 636
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• 13YARN on 13 92 76 (operated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
• 1800respect on 1800 737 732.

Alternatively, if you need additional support, you may be able to access student support services from your higher education provider.