We are devastated to learn that all art and design trainees – 2026-27 – will not receive a bursary to train to be a teacher. Many subjects have lost some of their funding, our subject along with Music, RE and Music have their entire bursary cut.
We believe the combination of failure to fill teacher vacancies is compounded by the failure to meet ITE targets. We also believe that the situation will be even worse if the bursary is withdrawn creating glaring gaps in teacher supply that will be felt for generation to come.
Read our letter to Georgia Gould OBE MP, Minister of State for School Standards.
The DfE’s own data shows, once again, that the 'value' of our subject has been called into question. This year, Chemistry has only a 0.2% teacher vacancy rate; Computing has a 0.8% vacancy rate but both subjects retain a bursary of £29K bursary. Geography has 0.8% and will be awarded a £5K bursary. Since 2023 our subject has had a 0.7-0.8%% vacancy rate - i.e. we have not trained sufficient teachers to fill demand – yet still the bursary for art and design trainees has been cut.
The Teacher Supply target for art and design in 2023-24 was 824, just 369 recruited. The target for 2024/25 was 1095, just 721 were recruited. Whilst the number of trainees recruited for art and design did increase last year, only 44% of the target for 2023/24 was met, rising to only 62% of the target reached last year. We have yet to see how well the subject has recruited to ITE courses this year.
Michele Gregson, NSEAD general secretary and CEO says:
‘Clearly the Department for Education believes that bursaries help retention – so it is astonishing that a Government that has made a public commitment to supporting the arts should repeat the blunders of the last administration. We find ourselves calling once again for the reinstatement of a fair bursary for all teachers. Again, we see short sighted, misguided attempts to pare back costs at the expense of teachers – making strategic missteps in cost reduction with no regard for the future.
‘But it is clear: the recruitment and retention of specialist art and design trainees and teachers is facing a year-on-year crisis, with fewer specialists in the classroom. As always, this will impact those in most need, as we know that those schools serving areas of high social disadvantage face the greatest challenges to find and keep specialist teachers.’
We know there is a substantial body of research published by the Gatsby Foundation, who say: 'schools serving areas of high social disadvantage face distinct recruitment challenges compared with those in more affluent communities. Schools with higher proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals are more likely to rely on non-specialist or supply teachers, and tend to experience higher staff turnover and a greater proportion of early-career teachers. In the Gatsby Foundation, Teacher recruitment and retention in 2025: Social Disadvantage and teacher labour market dynamics report, published last year, we also showed that secondary schools with high free school meal eligibility typically have teachers who report slightly lower job satisfaction and commitment to teaching, as well as more negative day-to-day experiences of pupil behaviour.'
Since 2017, NSEAD has campaigned against the subject bias and the economic impact of bursary inequities on our trainees. A successful campaign saw art and design bursaries awarded again, only to be withdrawn again in 2022. In 2024-25 the bursary was again reinstated. The growing cost of living will also mean that current maintenance loans will not even cover rents and bills. The removal of bursaries is set to make it impossible for socio-economically disadvantaged trainees to complete the full-time PGCE course.
As the data shows we are not sufficiently recruiting the number of trainees that our subject and our profession needs – non-specialists are teaching our subject; posts are not being filled. We know the impact of this policy, the shortfall in teacher supply will have impact on learning.
When we know that demand still exceeds the supply of art and design subject specialists, we call on the government to explain their reasoning and to reinstate bursaries for all trainees.
