Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Home Secretary on taking steps to reduce barriers to the recruitment and retention of international teachers in shortage subjects, including Modern Foreign Languages.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child. While our focus is on increasing the number of high-quality domestic teachers, international teachers make a valuable contribution to the teacher workforce in many subjects, including modern foreign languages. This is reflected in visa arrangements, where international teachers can qualify for a skilled worker visa if they are paid in line with teachers’ national pay scales, rather than the higher salary threshold which applies to most occupations.
To support schools in recruiting the teachers they need, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Home Office and the British Council.
Guidance on recruiting and retaining international teachers is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recruit-teachers-from-overseas.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with the British Council on supporting the recruitment and retention of international teachers, including through improvements to visa sponsorship, induction and professional development.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child. While our focus is on increasing the number of high-quality domestic teachers, international teachers make a valuable contribution to the teacher workforce in many subjects, including modern foreign languages. This is reflected in visa arrangements, where international teachers can qualify for a skilled worker visa if they are paid in line with teachers’ national pay scales, rather than the higher salary threshold which applies to most occupations.
To support schools in recruiting the teachers they need, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Home Office and the British Council.
Guidance on recruiting and retaining international teachers is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recruit-teachers-from-overseas.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of school budgets on workforce decisions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are investing an extra £1.7 billion into schools in the 2026/27 financial year, including funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform announced in the Schools White Paper. We are now more than 60% of the way towards our ambitious target of recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers in our secondary and special schools and further education colleges by the end of this parliament.
Schools have autonomy over their budgets and are best placed to take employment and recruitment decisions based on their own needs and context. We have published tools and guidance to help schools and trusts plan and deploy their workforce effectively to maximise value for pupils, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-workforce-planning-for-schools-and-trusts.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her department has to improve retention of experienced and senior teachers in mainstream schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Retaining experienced teachers is at the heart of the government’s pledge for 6,500 additional expert teachers. Details of the delivery plan were published in February and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving/6500-additional-teachers-delivery-plan-html-version.
Our plan included a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for eligible teachers in key subjects, above-inflation pay increase of almost 10% awarded over two years, and development of resources to support teacher workload and wellbeing, including the ‘Improve Workload and Wellbeing’ service.
As announced in the Schools White Paper, we will invest in a new teacher retention programme that provides training, resources and peer support to help schools learn from each other. We will also extend the national professional development offer so there is training at every stage, introducing new professional development programmes for experienced teachers and leaders. We are also investing £1 million additional funding each year for wellbeing support, providing up to 2,500 leaders annually with a safe and confidential space to develop new strategies to manage their resilience and capacity to thrive in their role.
Our interventions are having impact and the latest data shows that teacher leaver rates have fallen to one of the lowest rates on record, to 9.0% in the 2023/24 academic year.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February to Question 29521, on Teachers: Music, for what reason the Department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers; and whether consideration has been given to collecting such data in order to identify the number of primary teachers specialising in music.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department collects data on the (a) degree subjects of primary school teachers and (b) number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of primary and secondary school music teachers are within 5 years of retirement age.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of secondary school music teachers left the profession in each year from 2010 to 2025; and how that proportion compares to those that joined in each of those same years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of retention rates among secondary school music teachers compared to other subject teachers between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools and teacher entrants and leaver rates, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department publishes secondary subject level entrant numbers and leaver rates as part of the ‘Postgraduate initial teacher training targets’ (PGITT) publication, the most recent version of which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets/2025-26.
To note that the entrant and leaver rates included within this publication are calculated for a specific purpose which is to produce the primary and secondary PGITT targets and teachers that arrive from or leave to the special/pupil referral unit phase are counted within the rates. This is a different methodology than used to calculate the overall national and phase level teacher entrant and leaver rates in the school workforce census and so the rates are not directly comparable. These data will be updated when new targets are published in Spring 2026.
The department collects and publishes data on the degree subjects held by primary school teachers. The number of primary school teachers who hold a music degree or degree in a music-related subject is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a4752ff-957f-4676-b1dd-08de39895a0e. This data has been available since 31 July 2025.
1.7% of secondary school music teachers were aged 60 or over in 2024/25. There is no single set retirement age for teachers. The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
The department does not collect curriculum data from primary schools on the subjects taught by individual teachers. Unlike secondary teachers, who specialise in individual subjects, primary school teachers typically instruct across the whole curriculum. Gathering detailed data on which subjects each teacher delivers would require extensive additional reporting, increasing administrative workload.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on appointing people or groups to develop curriculum content following the recent tender process.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In light of the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department has now completed a tender process for the procurement of suppliers who will draft the reformed Programmes of Study for the National Curriculum.
The names of suppliers appointed to the framework and offered call off contracts will be confirmed in due course.