Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to incentivise teachers to work in non-selective schools in (a) selective and (b) non-selective local authority areas.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring we have high quality teachers in all our schools. A package of financial incentives for the next academic year (2017/18) is already in place to encourage more graduates to choose teaching as a profession and improve the supply of high quality teachers across the country. This includes new scholarships in geography and modern foreign languages, delivered by the learned societies in those subjects – and tax-free bursaries worth up to £30,000. The full list of bursaries for 2017/18 can be found at: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-and-salary/overview

We are also providing professional development for teachers, which enables all teachers to improve their practice. We are investing around £75 million in the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund over the next three years. It will support high quality professional development for teachers and school leaders in the areas of the country (including opportunity areas) and the schools (those rated as category 3 or 4 by Ofsted) that need it most.

Additionally, we have recently consulted on measures designed to increase the number of good schools places. Proposals included lifting the ban on the creation of new grammar schools and drawing further on the expertise of Higher Education Institutions, independent, and faith schools. Our consultation closed on 12 December 2016. We are now analysing the submissions and plan to publish our response in the spring.