Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing postgraduate training bursaries for Religious Education in 2026/27 on meeting the target set out in the 2026 Schools White Paper of an expert teacher in every classroom.

Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. As such, the department reviews bursaries annually to take account of several factors, including recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions and teacher need in each subject. The purpose of the scheme is to target resources where the evidence shows need is highest.

Between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment increased by 71% in religious education (RE), amongst the largest increases across all subjects. Partly due to this improved recruitment and higher retention of existing teachers, the need for new postgraduate RE trainee teachers in the 2026/27 academic year has also reduced.

The department will continue to assess the need for trainee teachers across all subjects and will review the bursaries on offer accordingly, prior to announcing the bursary offer for the 2027/28 academic year this autumn.