Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary school trainee teachers of (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) foreign languages, (d) religious education, (e) mathematics and (f) computing have been recruited to begin training in Autumn 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental targets for 2024/25 postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) were calculated by the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM) and include recruitment to High Potential ITT (HPITT) which is a two year employment-based ITT programme attracting high performing graduates and career changers who are unlikely to have otherwise joined the profession. The targets are calculated to replace all teachers expected to leave the workforce in 2025/26, and the working hours lost from teachers that will reduce their teaching hours between years. PGITT is only one of many routes into the teacher workforce, all of which are considered when calculating targets. Other routes include undergraduate university courses, Assessment Only (AO), the upcoming teacher degree apprenticeship, returners, new to the state-funded sector entrants, and newly qualified entrants that defer entry into the profession (deferrers).
Further information may be found in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets.
Departmental targets are for 23,955 secondary teacher trainees to start their initial teacher training (ITT) in autumn 2024, including HPITT trainees. As of last month, there have been 7,618 acceptances to postgraduate secondary courses in England (excluding HPITT acceptances).
Acceptance figures exclude HPITT acceptances as this data is not published. It is expected that more candidates will be recruited in the final four months of the cycle. Therefore, although acceptance figures provide a better indication of the number of teacher trainees starting training in Autumn 2024, they are not directly comparable to TWM trainee targets.
The physics TWM trainee target is 2,250 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 554 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The chemistry TWM trainee target is 1,220 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 314 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The modern foreign languages TWM trainee target is 2,540 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 622 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The religious education TWM trainee target is 580 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 198 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The mathematics TWM trainee target is 3,065 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 1,001 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The computing TWM trainee target is 1,330 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 202 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
One of the department’s top priorities is to ensure that it continues to attract and retain high-quality teachers. The department is investing in attracting the best teachers where they are needed the most, through its teaching marketing campaign, support services for prospective trainees, and financial incentives package including bursaries worth up to £28,000 and scholarships worth up to £30,000. The department’s in-house teacher recruitment journey and associated digital services are generating new real-time data and insight to drive innovation. For example, the department has now rolled out an ITT course specifically designed to support more engineers to teach physics.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's publication entitled 2022 School Workforce Census, published 8 June 2023, whether her Department has had discussions with any of the secondary schools that reported zero hours of religious education in Year 11 in the 2022 census.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The School Workforce Census collects information from a large sample of secondary schools in England for a typical week. This identifies hours taught of a subject, year group taught to, and the teacher. Data provided by schools is captured by their individual electronic timetabling systems. Results are weighted to produce national estimates but are not intended to be used as a means of monitoring compliance with the duty to teach religious education (RE), particularly as there may be other RE teaching time in schools that has not been recorded as schools may have allocated it under other subjects.
Following publication in June this year of 2022 census data, the department has not had discussion with schools that reported zero hours of religious education in Year 11 in the sample period.
Mentions:
1: Lord Bishop of Oxford (Bshp - Bishops) What steps is the FCDO taking to build religious literacy across its work? - Speech Link
2: Lord Alton of Liverpool (XB - Life peer) How much of that will be used to promote the rights of religious minorities? - Speech Link
3: Earl of Sandwich (XB - Excepted Hereditary) Surely this can be called religious ethnic cleansing. - Speech Link
4: Baroness Cox (XB - Life peer) Without education, they will not have a future.HART has delivered education supplies for over 6,000 young - Speech Link
5: Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD - Life peer) growth of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram—which even has in the words of its title the forbidding of education - Speech Link
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were entered for GCSE qualifications in (a) English Literature, (b) French, (c) Spanish, (d) German, (e) Italian, (f) History, (g) Geography, (h) Art & Design, (i) Music, (j) Drama, (k) Religious Education, (l) Combined Science, (m) Chemistry, (n) Physics, (o) Biology, (p) Computer Science in each year from 2008 to 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The number of GCSE entries by pupils at the end of key stage 4 in the requested subjects can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD - Life peer) My Lords, this policy would increase religious discrimination in schools that the British taxpayer is - Speech Link
2: Lord Baker of Dorking (Con - Life peer) No Tory Education Secretary since 1945 has advocated them. - Speech Link
3: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) Eligibility for a place in a special school will be dependent on a child’s education, health and care - Speech Link
Written Evidence Feb. 22 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: IED0002 - Integrated Education New-Bridge Integrated College Pupils Written Evidence
Written Evidence Jan. 25 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: IED0035 - Integrated Education Evangelical Alliance Written Evidence
Asked by: Duncan-Glancy, Pam (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the reported fall in the number of secondary school teachers in (a) computing studies, (b) ASN: behavioural support, (c) maths, (d) technical education, (e) religious education, (f) geography, (g) German, (h) physics, (i) home economics and (j) English between 2008 and 2023.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Since 2019 the number of teachers in Scottish schools has increased from 52,247 to 54,033 and the pupil teacher ratio has improved from 13.6 to 13.2.
Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff, and the Scottish Government continues to provide local authorities with £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers more widely.
Our Teaching Bursary Scheme is offering a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake teacher training in hard to fill STEM subjects – physics, maths, technical education, computing science, chemistry and home economics.
The Strategic Board for Teacher Education is also considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.
Asked by: Regan, Ash (Alba Party - Edinburgh Eastern)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultation was carried out with the Catholic Church in the preparation of its draft document, Guidance on the Delivery of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) Education in Scottish Schools, and, in light of reported calls for "the re-insertion of the paragraphs relating to Denominational Education from the previous iteration of the guidance, which would reflect both the legal protection for schools with a Religious Character, and the previously supportive position of Scottish Government for Catholic schools", for what reason such paragraphs have been removed from the guidance.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Work to revise the current RSHP teaching guidance was taken forward with a group of key stakeholders, including the Scottish Catholic Education Service. This engagement included meeting to consider the basis of a section in the revised guidance relating to faith and belief, and sharing iterations of the revised guidance before the revised guidance was finalised ahead of public consultation.
The draft revised guidance makes direct reference to denominational schools, recognising that religious authorities with a role in education provide additional and complementary guidance on RSHP education. Links to resources provided by the Scottish Catholic Education Service are contained in the revised guidance. The new section on faith and belief also takes into account an inclusive approach to all faiths and makes clear that educational practitioners in all schools should ensure that RSHP teaching and learning is delivered sensitively and respectfully to faith groups.
Catholic schools in Scotland play a crucial and valued role in the education system. In recognition of the concerns raised, officials met with the Scottish Catholic Education Service in November and made it clear they will reinstate the text on denominational schools into the revised guidance.
Mentions:
1: Elliot Colburn (Con - Carshalton and Wallington) presence comes at a steep cost: Sri Lanka spends more on its defence than it does on healthcare and education - Speech Link
2: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Taking away human rights affects religious belief, and taking away religious belief affects human rights—the - Speech Link
3: Andrew Mitchell (Con - Sutton Coldfield) The British strategy for defence engagement in Sri Lanka focuses primarily on professional military education - Speech Link