The Welsh Government has announced measures to support and encourage an increase in people going into teaching.
Brought about by Jeremy Miles, Wales’ Minister for Education and Welsh Language, the plan is aiming to support postgraduate teachers through the cost of living crisis, by giving those eligible a larger amount of pay after their first time, rather than at the end of their induction period. It is hoped that eligible learners will be supported with funding when they need it the most at the start of their course, by allowing them to buy supplies for their training as well as providing cost of living assistance.
Alongside this, the grade requirement to get into teaching has been lowered from a GCSE , to a C in English and/or Welsh and in Mathematics. The thinking behind this change was that the B grade requirement was an unnecessary barrier into teaching and the replacement will put Wales in line with the rest of the UK as well as encouraging more students to go into teaching.
Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said:
“I have announced these changes to incentives today in order to support those already training and to help attract more people to the profession.
“With the roll out of our new curriculum, this is an incredibly exciting time for education in Wales and for people to join.
“I’m determined that we remove barriers into teaching so we can give school pupils the best possible education, especially in priority subjects where the demand for new teachers is highest.”
The third measure that the Welsh Government are using to increase the number of students going into teaching is to increase the number of salaried PGCE places from 120 to 160 for 2023 to 2024. This is to be used with Primary or Secondary education and will help to remove barriers for those wishing to enter the profession. This will also aim to enable students teachers to continue with their ongoing commitments, including employment and income, whilst going through their journey to become a teacher.
