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<p>The government recognises that cost of living pressures impact trainee teachers
but has taken steps to increase the financial support available. All trainee teachers
on tuition fee-funded initial teacher training (ITT) routes can apply for a tuition
fee loan and a partially means-tested loan for living costs. Additional means-tested
student finance is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the
Childcare Grant for students with child dependants.</p><p>The government has continued
to increase maximum loans, grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support
has been increased by 2.8% for the current 2023/24 academic year, with a further 2.5%
increase announced for 2024/25. The highest levels of support are targeted at students
from the lowest-income families.</p><p>The department has also frozen maximum tuition
fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students
and to keep the cost of higher education under control. By the 2024/25 academic year,
maximum fees will have been frozen for 7 years.</p><p>The department has already made
£276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24
academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged
students.</p><p>The department is now making a further £10 million of one-off support
available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will
complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship
and hardship support schemes.</p><p>The department announced an ITT financial incentives
package worth up to £196 million for the 2024/25 ITT recruitment cycle, a £15 million
increase on the last cycle. This includes bursaries worth up to £28,000 tax-free and
scholarships worth up £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects
such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.</p><p>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 included an increase to the unqualified teacher
pay range for salaried trainee teachers and a minimum £30,000 starting salary for
school teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for
new teachers outside London.</p>
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