Now Teach launch £150k scheme for career changes into Computer Science 

• Government hiring targets for Computer Science teachers were missed by 70 per cent last year, with 30 per cent of schools in England unable to offer the subject at GCSE level.

• New £150k scheme, funded by The Hg Foundation, will offer candidates a free two-year support package, including bursaries and scholarships

• The partnership offers support to Now Teach after the Department for Education stopped funding in early 2024.

United Kingdom. 12th November 2024. Now Teach, a professional network enabling career changes into teaching, has secured funding with The Hg Foundation, a grant-giving charity focused on improving tech education and skills, for a £150k scheme to support the recruitment of Computer Science teachers. The programme will look to recruit professionals directly from the worlds of both business and science, to teach one of the UK’s most in demand subjects, for secondary schools across England.

Now Teach, a charity that runs the UK’s only dedicated career change programme for teaching, will find candidates to start training from September 2025.  Twenty schools will gain a new Computer Science teacher, with candidates bringing years of professional and real-world experience to inspire the next generation of AI specialists and app creators. 

Candidates will receive a free two-year support package of 1-2-1 guidance, wellbeing, subject and career coaching and access to a wider network of 1,000 peers as sounding boards for issues, and to source solutions. The programme will also enhance technology and AI knowledge across the organisation, through working groups and online hubs.

Government hiring targets for Computer Science teachers were missed by 70 per cent last year, with 30 per cent of schools in England unable to offer the subject at GCSE level. The National Foundation for Educational Research expect Computer Science to be one of 12 (out of 17) subjects to miss its recruitment target this year. The subject is one of Now Teach’s top ten most popular subjects for career changers.

The Government's 2024 Digital Strategy states that over 80 per cent of all jobs advertised in the UK require digital skills, and estimates that the current skills gap costs the UK economy as much as £63 billion a year in potential GDP. It is estimated this could rise to £120 billion a year by 2030.

Scholarships of £30,000 and bursaries of £28,000 will be available for some participants, subject to eligibility. Training can take up to two years, depending on a full or part time study option. Applicants need at least a decade worth of relevant professional experience to qualify.

The support of The Hg Foundation is the latest example of philanthropists, trusts and foundations stepping in to support the recruitment of career changer teachers after the Department for Education unexpectedly stopped funding Now Teach earlier this year. The new Labour government have committed £450m to tackle a decade of missed recruitment targets to hire 6,500 expert teachers. 

Graihagh Crawshaw-Sadler, CEO, Now Teach says:  “A move into teaching can be a hugely rewarding career change for those currently working in tech. The UK’s digital skills deficit combined with years of underrecruiting computer teachers, makes Computer Science educators gold dust for the UK education system. The Hg Foundation’s support means trainees can help young people access new fields and teach them the transferable skills to open up sectors, from engineering to healthcare, that ould lead to careers in software engineering and web design.”

James Turner, CEO of The Hg Foundation says, “The most important factor driving social mobility in tech is access to expert teachers in tech-relevant subjects.  The shortage of teachers in Computer Science particularly impacts those from lower income homes and in less affluent schools – so we are delighted to be partnering with Now Teach to identify a new cadre of specialists who can bring their real world knowledge to bear on the next generation.”

About The Hg Foundation:

The Hg Foundation’s vision is that the tech workforce of the future harnesses the talents of all, regardless of background.  It does this by supporting education and employment-based programmes across the UK, USA and Europe where it can demonstrate measurable, long-term and scalable impact and make a difference to those that need it most.  To date it has committed $29m to programmes that will reach over 50,000 young people and adults from under-represented backgrounds. The Foundation’s work is solely funded by Hg – a leading investor in European and transatlantic software and services businesses. The Hg Foundation is registered Charity no. 1189216. 

Find out more at https://www.thehgfoundation.com/

About Now Teach:

Now Teach is a charity that finds and supports career changers in teaching. We partner with schools, universities and training providers, support career changers and connect them with a strong professional network to amplify impact and accelerate progress. Now Teach works with over 140 training providers and multi-academy trusts to bring Britain’s best professional talent to the classroom. For several years the over 40s have been the only growing group of trainee teachers in England. There is a strong appetite for career change across the country. Now Teach’s joint research with YouGov showed 41% of Brits are open to teaching. One in five people have applied, or considered applying, to become a teacher and a third of these have done so in the last five years.

Find out more at https://www.nowteach.org.uk