Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of alternative routes into teaching physics other than recruiting physics graduates.

The within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcome is high-quality teaching. This government has inherited a system with critical shortages of teachers, especially in physics, with numbers not keeping pace with demographic changes. In 2023/24, we recruited 31% of our postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) target for physics trainees compared to 17% the year before. This demonstrates the significant work we need to do to reset the relationship with the sector and restore teaching’s status as a valued and respected profession, one that new graduates want to join and one that existing staff wish to remain in and thrive.

Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. Our measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges and tackling retention issues.

‘Engineers teach physics’ is an established national ITT course. The department continues to work closely with sector experts, representative bodies and academic institutions, such as the Institute of Physics (IOP), Engineering UK, the University of Birmingham and the Gatsby Foundation, to ensure that this course reflects best practice and includes the most up-to-date industry knowledge.

For the 2025 recruitment cycle, the department awarded the IOP a grant agreement worth around £200,000 as part of the two-year Initial Teacher Training Scholarship Programme, enabling the IOP to offer 175 scholarships to talented individuals with a passion for physics and the potential to become inspirational teachers. Between 2022 and 2024, the IOP has recruited 256 scholars who received a bursary uplift, currently £2,000, on top of the standard £29,000 ITT bursary for physics.

The department has extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. We are also piloting an international relocation payment, worth up to £10,000, which will be available to teachers of languages and physics in the 2024/25 academic year.

The department also supports physics recruitment through government-funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses.

The department’s ‘School Teacher Recruitment’ marketing campaign inspires and attracts candidates to consider a career in teaching, including physics. It promotes the profession and directs people to the Get Into Teaching service, which exists to make teaching a career of choice and supports candidates to apply for teacher training in the most effective and efficient way possible. Get Into Teaching is also facilitating paid teaching internships for, physics, mathematics, chemistry, languages and computing undergraduates and master’s students.

The government continues to fund and support the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Ambassadors programme, which aims to inspire young people, often from underrepresented groups, into STEM career opportunities. More than 28,000 volunteers have registered from over 7,500 employers, reaching over three million young people every year. These volunteers engage with young people to spark interest in STEM subjects. ​​