Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of (a) Russell Group graduates and (b) graduates with a first class degree working in primary education in deprived communities.

The Government encourages top graduates to enter teaching by providing high-value or otherwise preferential bursaries to first class degree holders in primary education and in many secondary subjects.

The Government continues to support the growth of Teach First, a two-year teacher training programme recruiting high quality graduates. This includes 21% with first class degrees and 71% from Russell Group universities in 2016/2017, to train in primary and secondary schools in some of the most deprived areas of the country.