Religion: Education
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the number of Religious Education teachers.
Answered by Department for Education
Our plan to deliver 6,500 new expert teachers sets how we will recruit the secondary, special school and further education teachers, including religious education (RE) teachers, over the course of this parliament. It focuses on three key themes, attracting, retaining and developing teachers, to ensure that we have enough highly-skilled teachers in our schools and colleges to allow every child to achieve and thrive.
There were more postgraduate RE trainee teachers in 2025/26, with 492 entrants to initial teacher training, compared to 462 in 2024/25. The data can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2025-26.
From September 2026, teachers and leaders will receive a pay award of 3.5%, followed by a further 3% increase from September 2027, which means teachers will have seen a 17% increase in pay since this government took office. We have also taken action to reduce workload and promote flexible working and improve wellbeing, so even more teachers stay in the profession and thrive.
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