New incentives to teach in Wales launched by government

New incentives to teach various high-priority subjects have been announced by the Welsh government in order to bolster the supply of talent within the teaching profession.

Under the new scheme, graduates with a first-class degree, a PhD or a masters undertaking secondary postgraduate initial teacher education programmes in maths, Welsh, computer science, physics and chemistry will receive a £20,000 incentive, with modern language students with equivalent qualifications eligible for a £15,000 incentive.

Meanwhile, students undertaking primary PGCE studies whose subject specialism is in English, Welsh, maths, computer science, physics or chemistry with top-level results can receive a £3,000 supplement in addition to the £3,000 incentive.

Finally, a Welsh medium incentive of £5,000 is being offered to complement arrangements for existing support under the Welsh Medium Improvement Scheme, with up to £2,500 payable on successful completion of qualified teacher status training and a further £2,500 contingent on getting a job teaching Welsh in a secondary education setting.

This marks the first time that computer science has been added as a priority subject eligible for the highest level of incentive, and will help the government to address longstanding challenges associated with recruiting staff in specific subjects and in certain parts of the country.

It will also support efforts to increase the number of teachers who can teach bilingually, as progress on the recruitment of secondary school staff for this purpose currently lags behind similar initiatives at primary level.

Welsh education secretary Kirsty Williams said: "It is impossible to overstate the importance of our teachers' role in helping to succeed in our national mission to raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and confidence.

"Our ambitious reforms need well-supported, high-quality, aspirational teachers. We must therefore attract and support the best graduates."