Hastings teachers to get £2,000 cash incentive

Early career maths and physics teachers in the Government’s 12 Opportunity Areas, which includes Hastings, will receive a £2,000 incentive as part of a drive to increase rates of retention among teachers of these subjects.

The initiative will further support teachers in the areas benefitting from the Government’s £72 million Opportunity Area programme.

Backed by £10 million investment set aside from last year’s Budget, the pilot will test a new way of incentivising maths and physics teachers to remain in the profession during the first five years of their career.

The scheme is based on evidence from the Gatsby Foundation and Education Policy Institute, which highlighted the potentially significant impact of such retention payments.

Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb said: “Teaching remains a popular career, but we want to make sure that we can continue to attract and keep the brightest and best graduates, particularly in subjects where specialist knowledge and expertise are vital to the future success of the economy.

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“The number of young people studying science and maths subjects has increased since 2010 and we have today pledged £10 million investment to ensure teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling proposition and that every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”

This follows the launch of the government’s first-ever integrated strategy to recruit and retain more teachers in schools – and will build on the 30,000 classroom teachers the government aims to recruit each year and support the 450,000 teachers already working in schools in England.

The pilot runs alongside Government plans set out in the Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy to improve incentives on offer to teachers in England to include retention-based payments for those who stay in the profession by staggering additional payments throughout the first years of their career.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss said: “Maths and science open doors to higher wages and better opportunities for pupils. Great teachers are, of course, crucial to the success of STEM lessons and this pilot will help schools recruit and retain the best staff.

“We are investing in these teachers to inspire the next generations to succeed in Britain’s future economy.”

Nigel Thomas, Executive Director at the Gatsby Foundation, said: “We warmly welcome the Government’s announcement and have long advocated the use of modest salary supplements to retain teachers in shortage-subject areas, where better paid opportunities exist outside of the profession. Gatsby’s own research strongly indicates that financial incentives would be more effective at curbing teacher shortages in maths and science than recruitment measures alone.

“We hope that this scheme is the first of many steps to ensure that learners nationwide are able to receive a high-quality and robust science and maths education regardless of geography, background or circumstance.”

This is part of the Government’s commitment to invest in programmes to encourage take up in STEM-related subjects.

It also follows the £508 million teachers’ pay grant announced last year to give thousands of classroom teachers a pay rise, and forms part of a drive led by the Education Secretary Damian Hinds to ensure teaching is a valued and rewarding career.