Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage professionals into teaching.

The Government is investing in Now Teach, a programme that encourages senior professionals to put their skills to use in the classroom through a career change. The Department is supporting the charity to help expand its reach and to recruit more teachers across the country. Now Teach focuses on attracting teachers in subjects that are harder to recruit, such as mathematics, science and modern foreign languages.

In 2017/18 49 per cent of Initial Teacher Training entrants were 25 or over, and the school direct salaried (SDS) programme has had particular success attracting entrants who have experienced other careers. In 2017/18 80 per cent of entrants via the SDS programme were 25 or older.

Investment has also increased in the Your Future | Their Future marketing campaign, targeting talented graduates and professionals considering a career change to train as a teacher. This has involved significantly expanding the Department’s programme of events taking place across the country as well as telephone and personal adviser support services.