Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing subject knowledge enhancement grants for religious education upon (1) the recruitment of teachers in that area, and (2) the standard of religious education being taught in schools.

Recruitment and retention are crucial to every curriculum subject. The department recognises that high-quality religious education (RE) relies on well trained, confident teachers. The department will be offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers that are starting Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year. The latest data available to date for this 2023/24 academic year highlights that 246 candidates have accepted an ITT offer in RE. At the same point in the cycle in the 2022/23 academic year, 145 candidates had accepted an ITT offer in RE. This represents a 59% increase.