The recent announcement that the UK plans to become a world leader in AI and that AI tools will become more prevalent in schools and classrooms signal that investment in STEM education is vital. However, cuts in funding for teacher support in computing and science are a significant blow to a critical enabling area.
Comprehensive continuing professional development (CPD) support for teachers – not least those who are non-STEM specialists – has played a crucial role in addressing skills gaps and enhancing teacher confidence in computing as well as physics, chemistry, and biology.
This decision to reduce funding for it – including for the Computing Hubs programme, Science Learning Partnerships, and bursaries for teachers to attend high-impact training at the National STEM Learning Centre – not only undermines decades of progress; it reveals a worrying blind spot when it comes to the infrastructure needed to deliver STEM education. Yet the stakes couldn’t be higher.
With 173,000 unfilled STEM roles costing the UK economy £1.5 billion annually, the future hinges on equipping the next generation with the skills to innovate and compete globally in AI, life sciences and more.
These initiatives have been pivotal in improving teacher confidence, transforming student outcomes and ensuring disadvantaged schools are not left behind. Cutting this support risks creating a two-tier system, where only well-funded schools can inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists.
A vision for STEM in the curriculum
The curriculum and assessment review provides a critical opportunity to counter these setbacks. If ambitious and forward-thinking, it could lay the groundwork for a STEM curriculum that balances academic and vocational pathways, strengthens teacher capability, and ensures education aligns with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
A well-designed curriculum is essential to building a future-ready workforce. The review must therefore address key priorities to ensure STEM remains a national strength:
- Support academic and applied learning from key stage 1
- Strengthen connections across STEM subjects, fostering interdisciplinary understanding
- Build knowledge seamlessly through school to sustain aspirations for science, technology, and computing
- Highlight STEM’s relevance locally and globally while engaging under-represented groups and diverse employers
- Embed practical, hands-on learning—like programming projects and problem-solving—within the curriculum.
These principles are foundational, but even if they are achieved, it will all be for nought if the government neglects to invest in the training and development of teachers and technicians to deliver such a curriculum.
Indeed, training staff will be crucial to the transformation of the public sector the government says it wants AI to deliver.
The value of STEM CPD
For over two decades, STEM Learning has delivered high-quality CPD, transforming classrooms and outcomes nationwide. The impact speaks for itself.
Before CPD, only 41 per cent of teachers felt confident teaching STEM subjects. After training, this figure rose to 94 per cent. Teachers engaged in CPD were 155 per cent more likely to stay in the profession, and 95 per cent reported increased subject knowledge and pedagogical understanding.
Crucially, GCSE and A level results have improved nationally. For example, the number of top grades awarded in GCSE computer science has increased by 15 per cent since 2023.
We can’t allow these gains to be lost, or even to stall. That’s why we’re proposing a £20 million STEM Futures Fund, co-financed by government and industry, to deliver subject-specific CPD (prioritising disadvantaged schools) and to strengthen links between education and industry.
Such a fund would deliver significant returns: every pound invested in STEM CPD generates £20 in economic benefit.
A call to action
For all these reasons, the forthcoming spending review and curriculum review represent a moment of reckoning for STEM education. Reducing funding for STEM teacher CPD threatens to undo years of progress, but there is a chance to reverse course.
By investing in teachers and strengthening the curriculum, the government can break down the barriers to opportunity in STEM and secure the UK’s position as a global leader in innovation.
The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of investment. If we really want to become a world leader in AI and sustain our global status in the sciences, we must turn this setback into new opportunity.
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