Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 42
42
Accepted
Paragraph: 175
Increase the value of lower-valued bursaries for subjects with persistent teacher shortages.
Conclusion
As discussed previously in this report, we have heard convincing evidence about the importance of interventions such as bursaries in targeting recruitment to subjects where there are teacher shortages. Bursaries should continue to be targeted towards subjects where there are shortages and shortages subjects should continually be reviewed to ensure bursaries remain where recruitment is most needed. The Department should increase the value of lower valued bursaries, particularly in subjects experiencing persistent shortages such as RE, DT and modern foreign languages.
Government Response Summary
The government outlines its existing annual review process for bursaries, noting it already prioritises STEM subjects and has recently increased language bursaries and reintroduced others. It states budget limitations necessitate prioritisation and does not commit to further increases in lower-valued bursaries as requested.
Paragraph Reference:
175
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department currently offers bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free for school ITT courses. We review bursaries each year before announcing the offer for those starting ITT the following academic year. In doing so, we take account of a number of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject as determined by the Teacher Workforce Model. We offer the highest bursaries in STEM subjects where there are persistent shortages and graduates have the highest earning potential outside teaching. In recent years, we have also increased the languages bursary, and reintroduced lower bursaries in subjects such as art & design, music and RE. As we have a limited budget, we need to prioritise when deciding the bursaries on offer. The School Teacher Recruitment marketing campaign aims to attract and inspire people to consider a career in teaching, through showcasing the wide range of benefits that it offers. The campaign balances the need to present the wider profession through broadcast channels whilst using highly targeted channels to promote bursaries for shortage subjects. Furthermore, we have continued to offer financial incentives for those undertaking teacher training for the FE sector in priority subject areas. For the 2024/25 academic year, training bursaries are worth up to £30,000 each, tax free (further information about schemes for future years will be available in due course). Applications for the 24/25 academic year are now closed. For FE, 2024/25 academic year bursaries are in defined subject areas (English, SEND, mathematics, science, engineering and/or manufacturing, computing), for trainees who meet eligibility criteria based on their relevant qualifications or professional experience, and their intention to teach a designated priority subject in the FE sector. The bursary amount varies according to the subject in which they train to teach.