Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the eligibility criteria for remission of student debt are if a person trains or returns to become a teacher; and what the rationale is for (a) those criteria and (b) the geographical scope of the application of those criteria.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government announced the Teachers’ Student Loan Reimbursement scheme in October 2017, fulfilling our manifesto commitment to help new teachers stay in the profession by forgiving their student loan repayments. The scheme is a pilot that is testing the impact of offering this incentive on teacher retention. It is aimed at early career teachers of languages and science who qualified since 2013/14, and is available in specific local authorities. Information on the scheme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teachers-student-loan-reimbursement-guidance-for-teachers-and-schools.
The scheme has been designed in this way because retention is most challenging early in teachers' careers, and because science and languages are in high demand by schools.
The local authorities where teachers’ student loan reimbursement applies have high need for teachers. This is determined by the 'Defining Achieving Excellence Areas' methodology, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defining-achieving-excellence-areas-methodology.
High need areas not included in the scheme are in the control group, which will enable the Department to conduct a robust evaluation.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) Local Education Authorities and (b) Academy Chains undertook a rural proofing review of policies adopted in 2018-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published guidance on rural proofing for which local authorities, and others, can apply if they wish. The information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rural-proofing.