Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the indicative total contract value for the Future High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme contract has reduced from £150 million in April 2025 to £89 million in September 2025.

The High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme has played a vital part in boosting teaching quality across the country. The current contract is coming to an end and, as with any government contract of this scale, it will be retendered in line with the usual fair, open and transparent process.

The programme is being adapted to return it to its original purpose - attracting a limited number of the very best trainee teachers to work in disadvantaged areas of the country.

The department is also growing other popular routes into teaching, building on the progress we have already made towards recruiting an additional 6,500 teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges over the course of this parliament.