Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in schools for pupils with severe learning difficulties and disabilities.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that it continues to attract, retain, and develop highly skilled teachers to ensure that all pupils can reach their potential.

Over 37,000 trainee teachers were recruited in the 2021/22 academic year. The Department is enhancing the appeal of teaching by raising the starting salary for teachers to £30,000 to ensure teaching remains a popular graduate option.

As set out in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy in 2019, the Department’s reforms are not only aimed at increasing teacher recruitment, but also at ensuring teachers stay in the profession.

The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support, and professional development for all new teachers to bring teaching into line with other professions such as law, accountancy, and medicine. These developments are detailed in the new Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (ITT CCF) and the Early Career Framework (ECF). Together, these frameworks ensure that new teachers benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, throughout their ITT and into their induction. Consideration of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) informs both the ITT CCF and ECF, which were both produced with the support of sector experts.

The Department’s Universal Services programme provides SEND specific training and continuous professional development for all teachers, head teachers, and other school and college staff at the point of need. Backed by almost £12 million, the programme commenced this year with a focus on supporting mainstream schools and colleges.