Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment of teachers of priority subjects in secondary schools.

Teaching is a hugely popular career with more teachers in schools than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession. To support recruitment in 2016/17 we have increased postgraduate bursaries, which put a premium on degree class, to attract top graduates in priority subjects such as physics, mathematics and modern foreign languages. Prestigious scholarships, worth £30,000 for physics and £25,000 for mathematics, chemistry or computing, are also available to talented graduates with a first or 2:1 degree who are passionate about their subject and have the potential to be inspirational teachers. We are also continuing to fund Teach First and their mission to get the best graduates into challenging schools.

In addition, we are spending £67 million on a programme of measures to improve the knowledge of the existing mathematics and physics teaching workforce, and increase the number of new mathematics and physics specialists who enter the profession through initial teacher training every year. This package aims to recruit up to 2,500 new teachers and train up to 15,000 existing teachers over the next five years. It also includes programmes to encourage the brightest A level students and undergraduates into teaching; salaried part-time and abridged courses for career changers; a salaried route for post-doctoral mathematics and physics researchers; and support for qualified teachers wishing to return to the profession.

Our marketing campaign, Your Future | Their Future, includes targeted subject specific advertising through a range of media. Those who wish to teach secondary priority subjects are eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service, which provides support from a dedicated adviser to guide them through the application process. Those applicants who would benefit can also access funded courses to boost or refresh their subject knowledge to a level that will allow them to teach the subject. Officials from the Department also attend more than 35 graduate recruitment events each year.