Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage students in (a) schools and (b) universities to study subjects that could lead to careers in the commercial space sector.

Science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) skills are in demand by employers across the country, and demand is growing. The department is investing in STEM education at all levels to ensure people have access to high-quality STEM teaching and can access STEM career opportunities within sectors such as the space sector.

The department is investing to recruit and retain high-quality teachers of STEM related subjects in schools and further education. Since autumn 2022, early career teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computing, who work in disadvantaged, state-funded secondary schools have been able to claim a Levelling Up Premium of up to £3,000 tax free per year, for up to three years. We also fund a suite of training and professional development offers to support high-quality STEM teaching.

The department is boosting the take-up of STEM subjects by delivering my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s ambition of ensuring all students in England study maths to 18. We are also funding tailored maths support for students and teachers through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, investing £84 million into the National Centre for Computing Education to drive increased participation in computer science, and funding research programmes on how to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects.

The government also supports programmes such as STEM Ambassadors, which inspires young people from under-served backgrounds to engage with STEM subjects.

The department is investing an additional £750 million over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high-quality teaching and facilities in higher education, including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. Degree apprenticeships offer people of all backgrounds a unique opportunity to combine degree-level study with being in a job and earning from day one.