Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain teachers in (i) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England.

The number of teachers remains high, with more than 465,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state-funded schools across the country, 24,000 more than in 2010. There are over 4,200 FTE teachers in Liverpool, an increase of 180 since 2010, and 62,500 teachers in the North West, an increase of over 2,200 since 2010.

The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The Department has expanded the offer to international trainees in physics and languages.

Additionally, the Department provides a Levelling Up Premium, worth up to £3,000, for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas (EIAs). The Department provide the highest payments to teachers in eligible schools in EIAs. In Merseyside, six local authorities are EIAs. There are six schools in the Liverpool Walton constituency eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, as well as 59 schools in the Liverpool area, and 97 schools in Merseyside. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.

The Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024, giving all teachers and school leaders access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career. To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the Department has rolled out the Early Career Framework (ECF) nationally, providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching. This is backed by over £130 million a year in funding.

The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.