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<p>The department recognises the valuable skills and experience that former military
personnel can bring to the education sector.</p><p>The undergraduate veteran teaching
bursary provides financial support to eligible veterans who are studying for a degree
with qualified teacher status in secondary subjects that are in high demand, such
as biology, chemistry, computing, languages, mathematics, or physics. The bursaries
are worth £20,000 in each of the last two years of the course and are available to
veterans who have left the armed forces within the last five years or are due to leave
within the next two years.</p><p>Graduate veterans are also eligible to access generous
bursaries in priority subjects via postgraduate Initial Teacher Training routes, alongside
other graduates.</p><p>The department does not have plans, at this stage, to look
to employ veterans as mentors to support better behaviour and attendance in school.
The department is currently delivering an attendance mentoring pilot which is designed
to test and evidence effective practice for improving attendance through individual
support and targeted family engagement. The pilot, which is delivered by Barnardo’s,
involves mentors supporting a group of persistently absent pupils and their families
on a one-to-one basis to help identify and address their barriers to education. The
pilot is currently being evaluated to improve the existing evidence base on the effectiveness
of this style of attendance intervention. The information from this pilot will then
be published to help inform both school and local authority practice.</p>
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