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Teachers: Training

Asked by Shivani RajaConservativeDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 8 September 2026UIN 22511

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses are currently limited to computing, languages, mathematics and physics.

Answered by Department for Education

Subject knowledge enhancement supports initial teacher training recruitment into priority subjects with the greatest sufficiency challenges. Funding is reviewed regularly to ensure provision is targeted where it is most needed.

Data from the school workforce census shows that teacher numbers grew by 2,346 across both secondary and special schools between 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Our school teacher pipeline is also growing. There were nearly 32,600 new entrants to initial teacher training in autumn 2025, up 13% from the previous year. Further information can be found in the Initial Teacher Training census, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2025-26#dataBlock-81ddac5d-c5a6-4087-98c3-b1522dbec96f-tables.

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