Recommendation 10

We asked the Department how confident it was that the initiatives funded through the £700 million represented the best value for money. It told us it had allocated the funding in a way to make what is described as “as much progress as possible”.23 We challenged the Department on, for example, whether the £26 million annual spend relating to its recruitment website reflected the right amount. The Department subsequently clarified what these costs covered the whole of the Get Into Teaching service for 2024-25, which comprises the School Teacher Recruitment marketing campaign, candidate support services, teaching internships and digital products and services including the website, costing £1.3 million. However, the Department’s response does not allow like for like comparison with the costs for other comparable recruitment websites or activities or show any analysis of whether the costs were appropriate.24