Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to address the shortfall of trainee teachers in business studies, social science, and design and technology.

Teaching continues to be a popular career choice for both graduates and career changers, and last year we recruited 1,000 more secondary teachers overall than in the previous year. We recognise, however, that recruitment is more difficult in some subjects than others, which is why we offer generous financial incentives in those subjects where more teachers are needed to meet demand.

We continue to support recruitment to Design and Technology initial teacher training through bursaries of up to £12,000. Subject knowledge enhancement courses are also available for those candidates who need to refresh or boost their knowledge of Design and Technology prior to commencing teacher training.

Bursaries are designed to incentivise applications in subjects where it is difficult to recruit, and where the Department’s teacher supply model tells us that we need to attract more applicants.