Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the proportion of time spent by secondary school teachers spending teaching subjects they are not trained in.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
There is currently the highest number of teachers on record. There are now over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The most recent School Workforce Census shows that almost 9 in 10 (87.4%) hours taught in English Baccalaureate subjects were taught by a teacher with a specialism in that subject. Overall, teachers spent a total of 3 in 5 teaching hours (63.7%) teaching the English Baccalaureate subjects of mathematics, English, sciences (including computer science), history, geography and modern languages. The School Workforce Census is available online at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Further information on the numbers and proportions of hours taught by teachers with relevant specialism in state-funded secondary schools in England in November 2022 can be found in the census publication at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f8c83028-7cce-463b-4c97-08dc5d297e6b.
The department recognises that there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects and to ensure that more teaching is done by teachers with a specialism in the relevant subject. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including increased bursaries worth up to £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, and the department’s financial incentives package for the 2024/25 initial teacher training recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.
Additionally, the department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.
Last year the department accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received a pay award of 6.5%, which is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. The 2023/24 award also delivered the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country.
The department also funds a number of subject-specific curriculum hubs, in subjects such as mathematics, sciences and languages, where schools can access more targeted training and development for their teachers, including those teaching out of specialism.
Apr. 23 2024
Source Page: I. Universal Credit guidance April 2024 [update of previous guidance, deposited Oct 2023, DEP2023-0791]. 204 docs. II. Letter dated 15/04/2023 from Jo Churchill MP to to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding documents for deposit in the House libraries. Incl. file list at Annex 1. 9p.Found: including fit notes V18.0 104 Mental Health V4.0 105 Method of payment in Universal Credit V2.0 106 Modern
Apr. 23 2024
Source Page: I. Universal Credit guidance April 2024 [update of previous guidance, deposited Oct 2023, DEP2023-0791]. 204 docs. II. Letter dated 15/04/2023 from Jo Churchill MP to to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding documents for deposit in the House libraries. Incl. file list at Annex 1. 9p.Found: fit notes V18.0 104 Mental Health V4.0 105 Method of payment in Universal Credit V2.0 106 Modern
Apr. 22 2024
Source Page: Strategic Board Teachers Education Meeting Papers November 2023Found: particularly at secondary level and for hard to fill subjects such as science, technologies, mathematics, modern
Apr. 19 2024
Source Page: Convention of the Highlands and Islands minutes: March 2024Found: to university - quite a lot of our learners want to do apprenticeships so graduate apprenticeships, modern
Mentions:
1: Lord Carter of Coles (Lab - Life peer) about the committee was that it took us into a wide range of issues and showed how difficult it is for modern - Speech Link
2: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green - Life peer) This might be housing six people, often speaking different languages. - Speech Link
3: Baroness Hamwee (LD - Life peer) that it is everybody’s subject, but I am a member of our House’s committee currently reviewing the Modern - Speech Link
Found: Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner2015 Modern Slavery Act 2015The role of the Independent Anti-Slavery
Mentions:
1: None It must be possible to work out a way around that by using modern technology or some other method.In - Speech Link
2: None reassurance on that.We worked alongside the Electoral Commission to produce some resources in multiple languages - Speech Link
Apr. 17 2024
Source Page: Immigration Rules archive: 11 March 2024 to 3 April 2024Found: Slavery under Appendix Domestic Worker Victim of Modern Slavery.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (XB - Life peer) place.I remind the House that there is more than one murder a week abroad, involving different countries, languages - Speech Link
2: Baroness Brinton (LD - Life peer) have been made to the national referral mechanism, the framework for identifying potential victims of modern - Speech Link
3: None back to the point that the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, made about the victims of modern - Speech Link
4: None exploitation; the data is collected under the particular offences, whether that be misuse of drugs or modern - Speech Link
5: Baroness Coussins (XB - Life peer) I remind the House about my various interests in relation to languages and linguists.In Committee, I - Speech Link