The Department for Education today announced the details of its levelling up premium payment to get new teachers into the poorest schools from September.
In new details published today, the DfE has revealed up to 7,000 early career teachers (ECTs) teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, in around 4,500 eligible state-funded secondary schools across England, will be able to claim the bonus.
Last October, prime minister Boris Johnson announced the creation of a “levelling up premium” worth £3,000, to send the “best maths and science teachers” to schools that need them most at the Conservative Party conference, but the details of the payments and when they would begin were not confirmed until today.
The payment to Stem ECTs will be available from autumn 2022 and will provide up to £3,000 in each of the next three academic years.
Overall, ECTs that are eligible will be able to claim up to £9,000 over three years.
The levelling up premium payments will be offered in schools identified as having a high need for teachers and ECTs in an eligible school in an Education Investment Area (EIA) will receive a higher payment.
The amount ECTs will be able to claim will be based on both the school’s proportion of pupil premium-eligible children and whether the school is in or outside an EIA.
For schools in the top 30 per cent nationally of the school’s proportion of pupil premium-eligible pupils, the maximum amount of £3,000 will be paid to those working at a school inside an EIA, while a payment of £2,000 per year will be awarded to those outside.
For ECTs in the top 50 per cent of schools with pupil premium, £2,500 and £1,500 will be available to those working in a school inside and outside an EIA, respectively.
And for those in the top 70 per cent, a payment of £2,000 will be available to those ECTs working in a school inside an EIA, while no payment will be available to those outside an EIA.
In order to qualify, ECTs must have started a postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) course or completed an undergraduate ITT course in the 2017 to 2018 to the 2021 to 2022 academic years.
However, the DfE has clarified that ECTs will not be able to claim both an early-career payment and a levelling up premium payment per academic year.
But the DfE said that those eligible to claim back student loan repayments will be able to do so alongside the bonus payment.
It said the payments will “help ensure every child receives a world-class education...no matter where they grow up”.
Today, £498 million from the government’s school Condition Improvement Fund was also allocated to 1,405 schools and sixth-form colleges in England that are “most in need of improvements to the quality of their buildings”.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the quality of pupils’ education in “crucial subjects” like maths and science “should not be dependent on where they live”.
He also said that teachers should not feel they must “leave their local area for a better-paid job”.
“Our levelling up premium will help give children and young people the best specialist teaching in maths, physics, chemistry and computing, while supporting jobs in low-income areas, helping to level up education for all and grow the economy.”
Previously, an early-career payment policy was piloted from 2018 to 2020 and offered new maths and physics teachers in some areas of the country a retention payment of £2,000 each year.
However, the pilot was scrapped for new teachers starting their training courses in the 2021-22 academic year.
But recent research carried out by the Gatsby Foundation revealed the scheme helped to reduce the number of teachers leaving the profession.
