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Written question asked by Ellie Chowns (Green Party) on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 June 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Friday, 26 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Religion: Teachers

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what action she is taking to increase the number of candidates accepted into Initial Teacher Training for Secondary Religious Education for this cycle.

Answer

Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. As such, we review bursaries annually to take account of recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and assess teacher need in each subject. The purpose of the scheme is to target resources to where the evidence shows need is highest.

Between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment increased by 71% in religious education (RE). Partly due to this improved recruitment and higher retention of existing teachers, the need for new postgraduate RE trainee teachers has reduced for the 2026/27 academic year.

Our ‘Get Into Teaching’ marketing campaign and one-to-one support service for prospective trainee teachers continues to support RE ITT recruitment. We will also continue to assess the need for trainees across all subjects and review the bursaries on offer prior to announcing the bursary offer for the 2027/28 academic year this autumn.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11047
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Teachers Training Religion Secondary education
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk