| answer text |
<p>England currently has the highest number of teachers on record. At the last count
there were over 468,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools
in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census
began in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>To make sure the department’s teacher recruitment and
retention efforts are focussed on where they are needed most and providing best value
for taxpayers’ money, the department has made some changes to funding allocations.
Since January 2024, notice of changes to funding has been sent to the following teacher
recruitment and retention partners:</p><p> </p><ul><li>All providers of Subject Knowledge
Enhancement (SKE) courses and initial teacher training (ITT) providers. The department
are continuing to offer funded SKE in subjects with the greatest sufficiency challenges,
including mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing, and languages and are continuing
to offer a £175 per week tax-free bursary for eligible candidates to support them
on their SKE training course.</li><li>Providers of National Professional Qualifications
(NPQs) informing them of changes to scholarship eligibility. The department is offering
full scholarship funding in all NPQ subjects to teachers and leaders working in schools,
and other settings, in the most challenging circumstances and serving more deprived
communities. In addition, four NPQ subjects will continue to receive scholarship funding
for all teachers and leaders employed at state-funded organisations. These include
the NPQ in Headship, the early headship coaching offer, the NPQ in leading primary
mathematics and the NPQ for special educational needs coordinators.</li><li>Providers
and teacher training applicants informing them of changes to the eligibility criteria
for the UK's international relocation payments. These payments will be available to
international teachers who teach physics and languages in England.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Since
January 2024, notice of non-renewal of funding has been sent to:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Now
Teach informing them that the department will not be renewing their contract when
it ends. The career changers programme has, and continues to, support career changers
to enter teaching. The department remains committed to continuing to recruit and support
career changers into ITT and are now carrying out a review to understand how to best
meet the needs of a wider range of career changers.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The department
has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries that are worth £28,000 tax-free
and scholarships that are £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key
subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The ITT financial
incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million,
which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.</p>
|
|
