Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for (a) her policies and (b) the labour market of changes in the level of the provision of maths in universities.

English universities are independent, autonomous institutions and are therefore free to choose which courses they run. Quality is assessed by the Office for Students, the regulator of higher education (HE) providers in England.

The factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s education in schools and colleges is high quality teaching, but there are shortages of qualified teachers across the country. This is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers across schools, both mainstream and specialist, and colleges, over the course of this parliament.

Our measures will include getting more teachers into key subjects, such as mathematics, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges or shortages of qualified teachers, and tackling retention issues.

The department has recently announced the Initial Teacher Training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, which is worth up to £233 million, and represents a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a range of measures, including bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.

The department is also supporting the retention of teachers within the profession, alongside additional recruitment. As of 14 October, eligible early career teachers in priority science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and technical subjects can claim targeted retention incentive payments worth up to £6,000 after tax, with payments made available to college teachers in key STEM and technical subjects for the first time.

The government recognises that our universities make a vital contribution to our economy, society and to industry and innovation. We recognise the need to put our world-leading HE sector on a secure footing to ensure that all students have confidence that they will receive the world-class HE experience they deserve.