Retraining existing teachers to teach physics would be “far cheaper” than increasing teacher training bursaries, new research suggests. The Education Policy Institute (EPI) is calling on government to fund a programme that would retrain teachers up to A-level standard in physics, to help build specialist capacity. Government has accepted a curriculum and assessment review (CAR) call for schools to offer an “entitlement to triple science at GCSE”. But just 31 per cent of the required physics teachers were recruited into initial teacher training in 2024-25. In the year to October, just 72.2 per cent of physics lessons were taught by a teacher with a relevant post A-level qualification, according to the Department for Education. The EPI said only 55 per cent were taught by a teacher with a relevant degree, while in the most disadvantaged schools outside London, fewer than one in five physics teachers held a relevant degree. Physics retraining ‘far cheaper’ The EPI examined the government’s “two main levers” for increasing specialist teacher numbers: raising the bursary in shortage subjects and retraining teachers already in the profession. The analysis, commissioned by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, looked at what each route costs to produce one additional year of specialist teaching. “Each additional year of specialist physics teaching costs the government about £5,200 through retraining, compared with around £41,000 through increasing the physics bursary by £1,000,” it concluded. “Even including school-side costs such as cover and teacher time, the retraining figure rises only to around £8,600, still about one-fifth of the bursary route.” Currently, bursaries of £29,000 are available to those training to teach physics. Call for government funding The EPI is now calling on the government to “fund at least one specialist retraining programme” that trains serving teachers to A-level depth in physics. It says such a programme “would produce specialist teaching more cheaply than a further bursary increase”. The EPI also recommends any funded programme “should track completion rates” to measure “how many teachers finish the programme, whether they go on to teach the target subject, and whether they later return to their original subject”. But it stressed the DfE should maintain bursaries alongside retraining, warning that retraining programmes “cannot replace graduate recruitment, and neither route alone will close the physics shortage”. “A lower cost per teacher-year is not a reason to cut bursaries.” ‘Should be a priority’ James Zuccollo, director for school workforce at the EPI, said: “No funded programme trains serving teachers to specialist depth in physics. “Introducing one should be a priority. Its success will depend on tracking who completes the programme and whether they go on to teach the subject, and above all on removing the barrier that stops teachers taking part: the cost of releasing them from timetabled lessons.” James Zuccullo Jenni French, head of STEM in schools at the Gatsby Foundation, added: “We need to keep recruiting new physics teachers, but recruitment alone will not solve the problem. “There are also talented teachers already in schools who, with the high-quality subject-specific training and the right support, could help build the specialist physics teaching capacity we urgently need.” Retraining success The EPI evaluated past and current teacher retraining programmes, as part of its study. Among them was the subject knowledge for physics teaching (SKPT) programme delivered by charity The Ogden Trust, which retrains teachers in physics up to KS4 level. The programme is funded by the DfE. Its contract is due to end in August 2027. It comprises six modules covering topics from across KS3 and KS4 physics. More than 80 teachers have completed all six modules, while around 1,800 have completed at least one. Chief executive Clare Harvey said the charity “see[s] the difference that intensive, rigorous subject-specific professional development can make in enabling great teachers to also be excellent teachers of physics”. She said the “vast majority of participants report a medium to high impact on their pedagogical understanding and confidence” and see an impact on students’ progress and attainment, after taking part. Harvey said establishing the SKPT as a gateway to a second specialism, by providing training to A-level depth, “would further reinforce and strengthen this cost-effective approach to building the physics teaching workforce.” The Department for Education has been approached.