Bursary cut leads trainee teachers of RE to fall by a fifth so far this year, but help is available

In December 2025, new Department for Education (DfE) data confirmed a significant shift in teacher recruitment, which we believe has been driven largely by the availability of financial incentives. While overall secondary recruitment has improved, Religious Education is facing a worsening recruitment crisis now bursaries are removed.

The Great Divide: How Bursaries are Shaping the Future of the Teaching Workforce

The latest teacher recruitment data reveals a stark divide in the classroom: most subjects backed by significant government funding are thriving, while those without financial support are seeing a dramatic decline in interest. Nowhere is this more evident than in Religious Education, which has seen a 25% drop in training offers for the 2026-27 cycle compared to the previous year.

The Power of the Bursary

The correlation between financial incentives and recruitment success is undeniable. High-priority STEM subjects, which currently offer tax-free bursaries of £29,000, have seen significant boosts in recruitment:

• Chemistry: Entrants are up 57.8%.
• Physics: Recruitment has surged by 33.2%, now exceeding government targets at 113%.
• Computing: This subject has seen a massive 22.8% increase in trainees.

In contrast, subjects where bursaries have been reduced or removed are struggling. Art and Design, Biology, Religious Education, and Geography—which previously offered bursaries between £5k and £10k—are all recording recruitment decreases of between 20% and 50%.

A Growing Crisis for RE and Humanities

For the current cycle, the number of individuals accepting offers to train as secondary RE teachers by January 2026 fell to 116, down from 147 at the same point the previous year. This one-quarter reduction is a significant blow to schools already struggling to fill RE vacancies.

The outlook for the 2026-27 cycle is even more challenging than previously. The DfE has announced that bursaries for Religious Education (currently £10,000) for those training this academic year and English (currently £5,000) will be withdrawn entirely for trainees starting their training in September 2026; hence the dramatic fall in recruits reported by UCAS. This move has sparked concern from organisations such as NATRE, which warns that the withdrawal of support will deepen the national shortage of RE teachers.

NATRE is disappointed that the ministers responsible for this decision are claiming that bursaries are not needed because recruitment for the current trainees increased. This statement is misleading because although it is true that recruitment increased, that was obviously because there was a bursary, and even then, the final number recruited was less than two-thirds of the target.

Conclusion

In a challenging economic climate, potential teachers are understandably looking at the costs of training. While the government celebrates record-breaking recruitment in STEM, the “bursary-driven” model is creating a secondary school system where arts and humanities may soon face a critical lack of qualified specialists. Without consistent financial support across all core subjects, the DfE’s target of recruiting 6,500 additional teachers remains a difficult goal to reach.

Data Snapshot: Bursaries vs. Recruitment (2025/26)

*Note: Figures indicate the planned reduction for the 2026/27 cycle. Please adapt the attached template letter to write to your MP about this to raise awareness of our campaign. If your MP responds – we can offer a letter for them to send