Industry welcomes teaching bursaries for key STEM subjects

Commenting on the government’s announcement to award bursaries of up to £20,000 to teach Maths, English or Special Education Needs (SEN), Tim Thomas, Head of Employment Policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “Offering bursaries to English and maths graduates will go some way to driving up the quality of teaching academic subjects, as well as vocational learning, in further education colleges.

“A good level of English and maths is a prerequisite for many jobs in manufacturing, yet employers still say some young people lack the numeracy and literacy skills needed to succeed.

“If the Government wants to go further, it should now explore the merits in capping the repayment of fees of graduates that study these subjects and then go onto teach them.”