Multi-million pound support package to boost the FE workforce

Further education providers across the country are to benefit from a package of support, worth up to £24 million, so they can continue to recruit, retain and develop excellent teachers, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced.

The package includes:

• £11 million to provide bursaries and grants worth up to £26,000 to attract talented people to train to teach in FE, in priority subject areas such as STEM, English and SEND teaching.
• A £10 million boost to expand the government’s Taking Teaching Further programme, delivered in partnership with sector body the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which sees industry professionals working in sectors such as engineering and computing to retrain as further education teachers. The scheme has already supported over 100 people to work in FE across the country so far. This additional funding will support up to 550 more people to train to teach a range of technical subjects in 2020.
• £3 million for high-quality mentor training programmes, designed and delivered by the ETF to support FE teachers – including those in the important early years of their careers – to develop and progress.

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