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Written question asked by Josh Newbury (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 February 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 February 2026 (named day). It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Monday, 16 February 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Further Education: Teachers

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of salary differences between college lecturers and school teachers on recruitment to further education teaching posts for (a) construction and (b) electrical engineering courses.

Answer

Further education (FE) colleges are responsible for setting and negotiating staff pay and terms and conditions within colleges.

The government recognises that colleges are facing recruitment challenges in construction and engineering. That is why our targeted retention incentive scheme gives eligible early career college teachers in priority subjects, including building and construction and engineering, up to £6,000 after tax annually. In the 2024/25 academic year, almost 6,000 teachers received payments.

In addition, we have announced that areas with Local Skills Improvement Plans will benefit from £20 million to form partnerships between FE providers and construction employers. This will help to build links between colleges and industry and boost the number of teachers with construction experience in FE.

Across the spending review period, we will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/2029. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16 to19 providers to enable the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
110914
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Construction Further education Engineering Pay Recruitment Teachers
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk