AQW 32980/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 07/10/2025
Answered On Date: 20/10/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education whether her Department has conducted an assessment of the impact of restricting Postgraduate Certificate in Education bursaries and fee coverage to future Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics cohorts on (i) recruitment; (ii) retention; and (iii) subject diversity, within the teaching workforce.

Answer:

The purpose of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) bursary scheme and the basis of both business case approval and the proposed evaluation of the pilot is to increase the number of both applications and enrolments in ITE in subjects which are experiencing teacher shortages. The Recruitment and Retention Survey carried out by my Department in 2024, along with both current and historical ITE applications data provided by the Higher Education Institutions, informed this decision.

Extending the scheme to include current students would not increase either applications or enrolments and would not, therefore, be deemed a Value for Money option that would fulfil the objectives of the scheme. Such an extension is also not within the scope of the approved business case, which was specifically designed to target future cohorts in shortage subjects to address recruitment challenges. It would also incur significant additional costs. Based on full enrolment against the approved intake of 580 students, the estimated total cost of extending the scheme to the current 2025/26 cohort across all subjects and the full duration of their studies is £10.75 million. The Education Sector is already facing an overcommitment of c£279m in 2025/26 for inescapable pressures only.

I understand this is disappointing for those already enrolled.

The pilot scheme will be subject to a full evaluation and future strategic workforce planning will continue to monitor teacher supply across all subject areas. This will help identify emerging needs and inform any necessary adjustments to the scheme’s remit to ensure it remains responsive to the areas of greatest shortage.