The Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools project is an innovative way to prepare high-quality teachers for employment in low-SES schools. The program, based at Queensland University of Technology, offers a specialised curriculum, designed to equip high-achieving pre-service teachers for work in the schools that need them most. Selected pre-service teachers at QUT are invited to take part in the trial course, based on their academic performance over the first two years of their four-year Bachelor of Education degree, and on a demonstrated commitment to social justice. These participants undertake a modified version of QUT's B Ed on-campus curriculum. They have their practicum/field experience at one of a range of disadvantaged schools throughout Queensland which have agreed to partner with QUT in the program. The ETDS does not apply a deficit model, rather it is explicitly centred on the pursuit of students' academic excellence.