The Department for Education will not reverse the “dramatic cut” to bursaries for trainee teachers in modern foreign languages, despite MFL teachers being placed on the shortage occupations list last week.

The reduction in bursaries, from £26,000 to £10,000 last October, was defended in the House of Lords today by the DfE’s parliamentary under-secretary of state Baroness Berridge.

She said only trainees in Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) were receiving the highest bursaries  - because they can command higher wages in jobs outside teaching.

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She also said there had been an increase of 300 this year in the number of MFL trainees.

Call to reverse cut to MFL teacher training bursaries

But Baroness Coussins, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, said the government had still missed its recruitment target for MFL teachers by 28 per cent this year and that there had been a drop of more than a third in the number of students doing MFL degrees in the past 10 years.

“I congratulate the government for its change of heart last week to add all MFL teachers to the shortage occupations list,” she said.

“This year’s small increase of 300 is by all accounts going to be temporary, so will the government also now quickly reverse the dramatic cut in MFL training bursaries from £26,000 to only £10,000 as mentioned by the noble lady - the only shortage subject to suffer such a cut?”

Baroness Berridge replied: “We do hope that the increase in trainees will be permanent but we’ve had to make, unfortunately, some difficult decisions financially in relation to the ITT [initial teacher training] bursaries offer and, as a result, we are offering the highest bursaries for those subjects where it’s hardest to attract people, and that is to Stem subjects because those graduates can command higher wages in jobs outside of teaching.”

Lord Judd said: “If we are to have any hope whatsoever of fulfilling the role which our prime minister has set for us as a leading nation in the world, we cannot give too much investment, support and encouragement to the teaching of foreign languages. For commerce and trade [it is] vital.”