Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of part-funding the training of educational psychologists; and whether she is taking steps to increase the number of educational psychologists.

The department knows that educational psychologists play a vital role in the support available to children and young people, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

That is why, since 2020, the department has increased the number of educational psychologist trainees that it funds, from 160 to over 200 per annum, to continue supporting Local Authority educational psychology services. This includes full funding for the tuition fees and a bursary for the first year, while a bursary for the second and third years of training is funded by local authorities where trainees undertake their placements.

In November 2022, the department announced a further £21 million investment to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, in addition to the £10 million announced earlier in 2022 to train over 200 educational psychologists from September 2023.