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<p>The department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax
annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five
years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education
Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rates
of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. These payments will incentivise
the recruitment and retention of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) teachers within the schools where they are needed most.</p><p>The department
has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax-free and
scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainee teachers to key
subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. This is alongside
delivering a £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><p>This academic
year, physics trainees from overseas are also eligible for bursaries and scholarships,
and for a one-off payment of £10,000 as part of the international relocation payment
pilot.</p><p>To encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering
background to consider a career as a physics teacher, the department has also launched
the ‘Engineers teach physics’ Initial Teacher Training course. Following a pilot in
2022, the department has now rolled this out nationally.</p><p>The department is also
taking action to support all teachers to stay in the profession and thrive and has
published a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing and
to support schools to introduce flexible working practices.</p><p>On the subject of
diverse teacher role models in science and mathematics, there remains a larger proportion
of female teachers than male teachers in state-funded schools overall (76%).</p><p>The
department aims to support the diversity of the workforce through our communications
campaigns, workforce programmes that support all teachers to develop across their
careers, and policies to support the workforce, such as flexible working. For example,
the Get Into Teaching marketing campaign supports diverse recruitment into the profession
through inclusive recruitment campaigns and marketing materials, which strive to reflect
the diversity of our target audiences who want reassurance that teaching is for people
like them. The campaign regularly showcases STEM teachers from diverse backgrounds.</p><p>The
department supports a range of work to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM education
in schools, including funding a Stimulating Physics Network to improve the quality
of physics teaching and improve progression to A level physics, particularly for girls.</p><p>More
widely, the government supports girls and pupils from other underrepresented groups
into STEM education through programmes such as the CyberFirst Girls competition which
aims to promote cybersecurity careers to girls aged between 12 and 14.</p><p>The government
also funds the STEM Ambassadors programme, a nationwide network of over 30,000 registered
volunteers representing thousands of employers, who engage with young people to increase
their interest in STEM subjects and to raise awareness of the range of careers that
STEM qualifications offer. Approximately 48% of Ambassadors are women and 17% are
from minority ethnic backgrounds, providing young people with a variety of role models.</p>
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