Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 July (HL8638), on what date it was decided that their commitment to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers would include colleges.

The department is targeting the 6,500 teachers pledge towards mainstream secondary schools and colleges, and special schools.

Regular public statements have been made on this key pledge. Examples include my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s letter to the education workforce on 8 July 2024, which confirmed both schools and colleges as being within scope of the pledge, and further information on the specific settings in scope were outlined in her speech on schools standards in February 2025 and in a Written Parliamentary Statement in May 2025.