Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the eligibility for levelling-up premiums in Education Investment Areas to include teachers of (a) Design and Technology and (b) any other school subjects.

The Levelling Up Premium is worth up to £3,000 tax-free annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. The payments are designed to incentivise the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects, particularly in the schools where they are needed most.

It is targeted at these particular subjects because the department’s greatest priority is English Baccalaureate subjects which are experiencing teacher shortages. Offering financial incentives in these subjects supports teacher supply where schools are likely to devote the most teaching time.