Asked by: Kirith Entwistle (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2025 to Question 52388 on Teachers: Religion, what the first degree subjects the 80 percent of entrants to RE Initial Teacher Training who did not have their first degree in Theology and Religious Studies were.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The following table shows the subject for the first degree of new entrants to religious education initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year. Subject is as specified in the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s Common Aggregation Hierarchy. Trainees with unknown first degree subject are excluded. Where trainees have more than one first degree subject, they are listed as “joint honours”. Note that some degree subjects, such as philosophy that are not included within theology and religious studies, may contain relevant content for religious education. It is the responsibility of the accredited ITT provider to determine the suitability of a candidate applying for ITT. The department publishes the ITT criteria which sets out the minimum requirements that a candidate must meet to be eligible for ITT.
Degree subject | Number of trainees | Percentage of trainees |
Theology and religious studies | 89 | 20% |
Philosophy | 82 | 18% |
Sociology | 52 | 12% |
Joint honours | 47 | 11% |
History | 30 | 7% |
Law | 29 | 7% |
Psychology (non-specific) | 23 | 5% |
Education | 18 | 4% |
Politics | 14 | 3% |
Anthropology | 5 | 1% |
Childhood and youth studies | 5 | 1% |
Others in psychology | 5 | 1% |
Liberal arts (non-specific) | 4 | 1% |
Classics | 3 | 1% |
Media studies | 3 | 1% |
Social work | 3 | 1% |
Cinematics and photography | 2 | <1% |
Health studies | 2 | <1% |
Literature in English | 2 | <1% |
Management studies | 2 | <1% |
Music | 2 | <1% |
Social sciences (non-specific) | 2 | <1% |
Sport and exercise sciences | 2 | <1% |
American and Australasian studies | 1 | <1% |
Art | 1 | <1% |
Business and management (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Combined, general or negotiated studies | 1 | <1% |
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy | 1 | <1% |
Creative writing | 1 | <1% |
Development studies | 1 | <1% |
Developmental psychology | 1 | <1% |
Drama | 1 | <1% |
Economics | 1 | <1% |
English language | 1 | <1% |
Forensic and archaeological sciences | 1 | <1% |
Geography (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Health sciences (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Nursing (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Polymers and textiles | 1 | <1% |
Social policy | 1 | <1% |
Tourism, transport and travel | 1 | <1% |