Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve recruitment and retention rates of teachers in schools in Lincolnshire.

High-quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education, therefore delivering the government’s agenda to break down the barriers to opportunity relies on a highly skilled workforce in schools.

There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England. However, the department needs to do more to recruit additional teachers, especially in shortage subjects in secondary schools, which is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.

Financial incentives are one of the most effective ways to increase teacher supply. The department’s initial teacher training financial incentives package this year is worth up to £196 million, including bursaries of up to £28,000 tax free for trainees in mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. Although the minimum starting salary for teachers in Lincolnshire increased to £30,000 from 2023/24, the department knows fair pay going forward is key to ensuring teaching is an attractive and respected profession. This is why this government has accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September.

The department is providing schools with almost £1.1 billion in additional funding, in financial year 2024/25, to support schools with overall costs. This matches what we have calculated is needed to fully fund, at a national level, the teacher pay award and the support staff pay offer in financial year 2024/25, over and above the overall available headroom in schools’ existing budgets.

Recruiting more teachers is a key part of the opportunity mission, but this government is also committed to tackling long-standing retention challenges to ensure teachers stay and thrive in the profession. This is why the department is continuing to support mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers, who chose to work in disadvantaged schools, through retention payments worth up to £3,000 after tax. For the 2023/24 academic year, teachers in 55 schools in the Lincolnshire local authority were eligible for these retention payments.

To further help retention, the department is also addressing teacher workload and wellbeing and supporting schools to introduce flexible working practices. Lapal School of Hales Valley Trust, as one of the department’s flexible working ambassador schools, is helping schools across East Midlands and Lincolnshire to introduce flexible working practices.

In addition, local teaching school hubs, including the L.E.A.D Teaching School Hub and DRET Teaching Hub, are supporting schools across Lincolnshire to deliver teacher training and development.