Targeted retention incentive for FE teachers: data as of 5 May 2025
Published 15 May 2025
Applies to England
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Overview of policy
To boost recruitment and retention of teachers, the targeted retention incentive gives eligible early career teachers in key STEM and technical shortage subjects, working in colleges and 16 to 19 only schools and academies, up to £6,000 after tax annually.
Eligible FE teachers can claim a targeted retention incentive payments for teaching specific courses in the following subject areas:
- building and construction
- computing, including digital and ICT
- early years
- engineering and manufacturing, including transport engineering and electronics
- maths
- physics
- chemistry
Data
The targeted retention incentive for FE teachers claim window for the 2024 to 2025 academic year opened in October 2024 and closed on 31 March 2025. 7,790 applications have been received. As of 5 May 2025, 5,984 claims were approved and 1,730 were rejected.
Table 1: Total number of claims for the financial year 2024 to 2025
| Application status | Number of claims |
|---|---|
| Approved | 5,984 |
| Awaiting decision | 76 |
| Rejected | 1,730 |
| Total | 7,790 |
Approved claims include those that have been paid and those awaiting payment.
In some instances, teachers made multiple claims and these are included in the ‘Rejected’ category. The total rejected claims are therefore not representative of individual teachers, and this will be amended in final publication of figures.
These figures may be subject to change as claims are further validated ahead of final publication of figures.
The majority of approved claims were from teachers of building and construction (1,725), maths (1,367), and engineering and manufacturing (1,195).
Table 2: Total number of approved claims by subject taught
| Subjects taught | Number of approved claims |
|---|---|
| Building and construction | 1,725 |
| Chemistry | 172 |
| Computing, including digital and ICT | 625 |
| Early years | 515 |
| Engineering and manufacturing, including transport engineering and electronics | 1,195 |
| Maths | 1,367 |
| Physics | 92 |
| Applicants teaching two or more of the seven eligible subject areas | 293 |
| Total | 5,984 |
The majority of approved claims were from teachers in an FE provider where at least 50% of students attracted 16-19 disadvantage funding (5,295).
Teachers at an FE provider that had the highest proportion of disadvantaged students, received a higher payment. This was based on the proportion of 16 to 19 students enrolled at the FE provider attracting disadvantage funding in the 2022 to 2023 academic year, on the basis of students’ economic deprivation or low prior attainment in English and maths.
Those eligible teachers employed at an FE provider with 50% to 100% of students attracting disadvantage funding received a £3,000 to £6,000 payment depending on the number of hours a week they taught. Those with 25% to 50% received £2,500 to £5,000 and those below 25% received £2,000 to £4,000.
Table 3: Total number of approved claims by the proportion of students in an FE provider attracting disadvantage funding for 16 to 19 education in the 2022 to 2023 academic year
| Percentage of students attracting disadvantage funding for 16 to 19 education in the 2022 to 2023 academic year | Number of approved claims from teachers at FE providers with this proportion of disadvantaged students |
|---|---|
| Below 25% | 159 |
| Between 25-50% | 530 |
| 50% and above | 5,295 |
| Total | 5,984 |
The majority of approved claims were from teachers who teach 12 or more hours per week, which equates to roughly 0.5 of a full-time role.
To be eligible, teachers must have taught at least 2.5 hours per week (which equates to roughly 0.1 of a full-time role) and satisfy the rest of the eligibility criteria.
If teachers taught between 2.5 hours and 12 hours per week, they received £2,000 to £3,000, depending on the proportion of disadvantaged students taught at their provider. If they taught 12 hours or more, they received £4,000 to £6,000, depending on the proportion of disadvantaged students taught at their provider.
Table 4: Total number of approved claims by teaching hours per week
| Teaching hours per week | Number of approved claims |
|---|---|
| Between 2.5 and 12 | 361 |
| More than 12 | 5,623 |
| Total | 5,984 |
There may be small changes to the split of approved applications by teaching hours, as claims are further validated ahead of the publication of final figures.
Table 5: Average approved claim amount (rounded to nearest £50)
| Average claim amount (£) |
|---|
| 5,700 |
The majority of approved claims were from teachers in a general further education college (5,424).
Table 6: Total number of approved claims by provider type
| Provider type | Number of approved claims |
|---|---|
| 16 to 19 only schools and academies | 313 |
| General FE college, including tertiary | 5,424 |
| Sixth-form college | 247 |
| Total | 5,984 |
Methodology
Teachers were able to submit an application between 14 October 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Once a teacher had submitted their application online confirming their eligibility, their employer verifies the details. DfE conducts further checks and if eligible, the money is issued directly into the teacher’s bank account.
Information received in applications is checked against the following data sources during the verification process to ensure the application is from an eligible teacher:
- information from the teacher’s employer
- Teacher’s Pension Scheme data (if applicable)
- Student Loans Company data
All data is stored in line with DfE’s privacy notice.
The data presented here is based on an extract of claims data as of 5 May 2025.