Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of teachers entitled to retention bursaries did not receive them in the academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23.

The Department is currently offering a Levelling Up Premium 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, including in Education Investment Areas. The Department is also continuing to pay Early Career Payments to teachers who started Initial Teacher Training between 2018/19 and 2020/21. In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic year, the Department also paid Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments.

To claim these retention payments, teachers complete a short online application within the specified claim window, and the Department pays them directly if eligible. The Department is not able to confirm how many or what proportion of eligible teachers did not receive payments because the teacher workforce is fluid.

For the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments pilot, the Department estimated that uptake by eligible teachers was above 90%. The Department is continuing to assess uptake of the other retention payment schemes, and expects a similar uptake level.