Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government hat assessment they have made of whether initial teacher training (ITT) applications this year, particularly for (1) physics, (2) computing, and (3) modern languages, are sufficient for secondary school recruitment requirements; whether they estimate an increase in the shortage of qualified teachers; and if so, what steps they are taking to address the shortage.

Departmental targets, as estimated by the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM), are for 20,945 secondary teacher trainees to start their initial teacher training (ITT) in autumn 2022 (including high performance ITT (HPITT) trainees)[1]. Currently, there have been 10,106 acceptances to postgraduate secondary courses in England, (excluding HPITT acceptances)[2].

The computing TWM trainee target is 1,145 (including HPITT) and currently there have been 264 acceptances (excluding HPITT).

The modern foreign languages TWM trainee target is 2,140 (including HPITT) and currently there have been 618 acceptances (excluding HPITT).

The physics TWM trainee target is 2,610 (including HPITT) and currently there have been 361 acceptances (excluding HPITT).

The department has put in place a range of measures for trainees in 2021 and 2022, including bursaries worth up to £24,000 and scholarships worth up to £26,000, to encourage talented trainees to apply to train in key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. The department is offering a £15,000 bursary in design and technology, geography, and languages, including ancient languages, and a £10,000 bursary for biology trainees.

The department is exploring new ways to recruit trainee teachers in subjects where there is a shortage. For example, we will introduce a new scholarship to attract the most talented language graduates to the profession. We are also piloting a new ITT course designed to support more engineers to teach physics. The course is being delivered by six providers, each of whom have been supported with grant funding from the department.

To make teaching here even more attractive to the best teachers from around the world, the department will introduce a new relocation premium to help with visas and other expenses.

[1] Postgraduate initial teacher training targets: 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[2] Acceptances- up to 20th June 2022 excluding HPITT (sum of recruited and pending conditions), Initial teacher training application statistics for courses starting in the 2022 to 2023 academic year - Apply for teacher training - GOV.UK (apply-for-teacher-training.service.gov.uk)