Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment for the most recent round of Initial Teacher Training accreditation.

In the 2019 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the Department committed to reviewing the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) market, with the aim to make it more effective.

The subsequent ITT accreditation process was recommended by an expert advisory group and implemented following public consultation. The process was designed to assess providers’ capacity to deliver high quality, reformed ITT from September 2024, in line with the new Quality Requirements identified in the advisory group’s ITT Market Review.

The consultation invited views on any impact people considered could arise from implementation of the proposed Quality Requirements in relation to equalities issues. The Department also assessed the potential equalities impacts of the reforms and published the findings here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1037339/Government_response_to_the_initial_teacher_training__ITT__market_review_report_-_equalities_impact_assessment.pdf.

The Department continues to provide support to attract the best possible candidates to teacher training. £181 million has been made available in bursaries and scholarships to attract trainee teachers in high priority subjects for the 2023/24 academic year, which is a £52 million increase on the current academic year. As graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects attract the highest salaries outside teaching, the Department is offering a £27,000 tax free bursary and a £29,000 tax free scholarship in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. In addition, a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax free annually is available for maths, physics, chemistry and computing teachers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools early in their career. This reflects the priority the Department places on training teachers to teach STEM subjects and on supporting the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in the subjects, schools and areas that need them most.

The Department wants to attract and retain diverse, talented teachers from all backgrounds and support all teachers in their career journeys. The Department is committed to dismantling the stereotype of what a good teacher looks like and supporting people into teaching, regardless of their gender or background.

The new Apply for Teacher Training service, rolled out in October 2021, will allow the Department to collect more data, giving a greater insight into candidate behaviour and the behaviour of providers of teacher training, so that the Department can identify barriers and work to address them. The Department will continue to work closely with ITT providers to explore, design and test new interventions to ensure teaching is an inclusive career that is open to candidates from all backgrounds.