Statement on the government cutting the Religious Education teacher training bursary to zero

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, said: “It’s disappointing that despite a failure to meet Religious Education (RE) teacher recruitment targets for most of the past decade, the government has cut the training bursary to zero.  

“At a time when community cohesion is under pressure this is a disheartening decision when there is a clear need for more RE teachers. Catholic schools teach a Catholic RE curriculum, as statutory and part of the basic curriculum, for 10% of curriculum time, therefore including the study of other religions like Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and world views for much longer than most non-denominational schools, contributing to community cohesion.  

“Many Catholic school headteachers will have also begun their careers as RE teachers. Any national shortage of teachers, which would of course include in RE, therefore has a corresponding impact on the number of applicants for Catholic school leadership vacancies.” 

Above: RE at Holy Family Catholic Primary Academy, image by St Joseph Catholic Multi-Academy Trust