To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has on the introduction of initial teacher training financial incentives in the form of bursaries for religious education; and if he will make a statement.
Answered on
10 November 2021
The bursaries the department offers for initial teacher training (ITT) are intended to incentivise applications to ITT courses. The department reviews the bursaries on offer each year to take account of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. This provides flexibility to respond to the need to attract new teachers, and means we are spending money where it is needed most.
In academic year 2020/21 the department exceeded the postgraduate ITT target in religious education (128% of target). As a result, the department decided to focus the bursaries we offered for academic year 2021/22 on subjects where it is hardest to attract sufficient applicants. We have taken a similar approach for academic year 2022/23 and will review the need for financial incentives across all subjects again before announcing the bursaries for academic year 2023/24.