Education Return and Awarding Qualifications in 2021

Bill Esterson Excerpts

Thursday 25th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point, and apprentices will be able to access these courses online so that they are able to complete their studies and their training.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab) [V]]

Yesterday, the Education Secretary said that schools could hire more staff with £6,000 from his Department. Can I just ask the Education Secretary: how much does he think a teacher gets paid?

[Gavin Williamson]

I very much hope the hon. Gentleman got the copy of the skills for jobs White Paper that I sent him, which he had obviously not read when he asked his last question. He will also be aware that I am fully aware that teachers are not paid £6,000. Thankfully, as a result of this Government’s interventions, starting salaries for teachers are going to be hitting £30,000 a year for newly qualified teachers very shortly. What we are doing is giving schools the ability to use that extra resource to bring in and pay for extra support for a few weeks to boost the learning and the education of children in lots of different settings. That might be on English, it might be on maths, it might be for sport or it might be for a whole different range of areas. It is odd to see a Labour politician not seeming to welcome the fact that we are putting more money into education, but maybe it betrays his true colours.