Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the number of people enrolling in secondary education teacher training.

The Government recognises the importance of increasing the number of trainees in secondary education training and is committed to focusing funding on secondary subjects.

While enrolment in secondary education teacher training in 2017/18 was slightly down on numbers in 2015/16 and 2016/17, the overall trend is positive with postgraduate recruitment at its highest level since 2011/12.

To ensure that secondary education teacher training continues to attract talented graduates, the Department focuses funding on secondary subjects. This includes offering increased bursaries, typically worth up to £26,000, for priority subjects such as maths and physics. The Department has also taken further steps to improve this year’s recruitment figures. These steps include boosting our marketing and support to applicants, making it easier to take the skills test, and working with providers to ensure that more applicants who are ready to train to teach are accepted.