Response from Rt. Hon. Damian Hinds, MP on SKE funding changes (April 24)

20 May 2024

22 April 2024

Dear Mr Noble-Rogers,

Thank you for your email of 22 March, addressed to the Secretary of State, regarding the Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) funding for trainee teachers. I am replying as the Minister for Schools.

The department continually reviews the support available to trainee teachers. This ensures that SKE provision is focused on the candidates that need it the most in the priority subjects with the greatest sufficiency challenges. A priority subject considers a number of factors as well as sufficiency, and currently includes physics, modern foreign languages, mathematics and computing. The department will review the SKE package again ahead of the new academic year.
We are committed to recruiting the teachers we need. Indeed, the initial teacher training (ITT) financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, a £15 million increase on the last cycle.

We recognise that there will be circumstances in which candidates may have subject knowledge gaps that they need to address before commencing ITT. In these cases, candidates might decide to self-fund and enter into a commercial agreement directly with the SKE provider.

Funded SKE courses in Primary mathematics, D&T, English, biology and RE will remain available for candidates due to start a SKE programme after April 2024 so long as they had received an ITT offer, conditional on SKE, up to and including 10 April 2024.

Where a candidate has been asked to complete a SKE course in Primary mathematics, D&T, English, biology and RE after April, we recommend they talk directly to the ITT provider to ensure they fully understand their options.

I appreciate this will not be the response you had wished for, but I hope it provides clarity on the department’s position. Thank you for writing on this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Damian Hinds
Minister for Schools