Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to attract STEM teachers to schools in Devon.

The number of teachers remains high, with more than 468,000 across the country, which is 27,000 more than in 2010. In November 2022, the latest available data, there were 5,667 full-time equivalent teachers in state funded schools in Devon. This is an increase of 1.7% from last year (5,571) and an increase of 4.6% since 2010, when the school workforce census began (5,419).

The Department recognises that recruitment and retention in some subjects, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, remains more challenging and the Department has put additional targeted initiatives in place.

​In October 2022, the Department announced an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting ITT in 2023/24, which is a £52 million increase on 2022/23. The package includes bursaries worth £27,000 tax free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax free, to encourage talented trainees to teach in key subjects, such as physics, chemistry and computing. More information on the financial incentives package can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt-academic-year-2023-to-2024.

​For the 2023/24 academic year, the Department has also extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics.

​ The Department is offering a Levelling Up Premium (LUP) worth up to £3,000 tax free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. In Devon, there are 25 secondary schools that are eligible for the LUP. Specialist teachers in these schools can claim up to £2,000 tax free annually. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.

​In spring 2022, the Department launched ‘Engineers teach physics’, an ITT course which was piloted as a step to encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering background to consider a career as a physics teacher. Following the pilot year, the Department has now rolled ‘Engineers teach physics’ out nationally, with 18 providers currently offering this course.