Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the recruitment of teachers that have a background in industry to enhance (a) vocational and (b) technical education in (i) Hexham constituency, (ii) Northumberland, (iii) Newcastle, (iv) the North East, and (v) England.

The department is committed to strengthening the pipeline of industry expertise into teaching across the country, particularly in the further education (FE) sector.

The 'Teach in Further Education' marketing campaign and online platform provides support to those interested in teaching, with a focus on industry professionals changing career. The ‘Taking Teaching Further’ programme offers early career support and training to those industry professionals entering teaching with the relevant knowledge and experience. To boost retention of early career FE teachers in priority technical and vocational subjects, we offer retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In the 2024/25 academic year, almost 6,000 FE teachers received these payments. As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are investing £20 million to support partnerships between construction employers and FE providers, and promote industry expertise in the classroom.

In schools, we offer several pathways into teaching, including postgraduate salaried courses like apprenticeships, which can support industry career-changers into teaching. Similar targeted retention incentives are also available.