Background information

£1.3M has been made available to fund the three year 'Chemistry for non-specialists' programme. 

The generous level of funding highlights the importance of the aim of the courses - to raise the confidence and expertise of non-specialist teachers teaching chemistry in UK secondary schools. 

Why is the programme so important?

In January 2006, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) published a report entitled 'Mathematics and Science in Secondary Schools - The Deployment of Teachers and Support Staff to Deliver the Curriculum.'

The report showed that 44% of science teachers in UK secondary schools are biology specialists, whereas only 25% were chemistry specialists. 

It is widely recognised that the best teachers are those who have specialist subject knowledge and a real passion and enthusiasm for the subject they teach. For example, Ofsted evidence shows that the level of qualification held by the teacher has a direct correlation to the quality of the student experience. 

Therefore the DfES report raised serious concerns that a lack of specialist chemistry teachers, or teachers with the confidence and enthusiasm to make chemistry exciting, might turn students off continuing to study the subject.

CPD is the key

In January 2006 the Wellcome Trust published a report on teachers' attitudes to CPD entitled 'Believers, Seekers and Sceptics: what teachers think about continuing professional development.'

The report indicated that updating subject knowledge and teaching skills were rated the most important areas for CPD and could: 

• make teachers more confident in their role 
• increase morale
• benefit the whole school.     

Secondary science teachers were particularly keen to update their subject knowledge - 72% wanted more CPD in that area compared to 60% for other subject teachers. Only 35% were satisfied with subject related courses compared with 48% for secondary school teachers as a whole.  

50% of all secondary science teachers had no subject related CPD in the past five years.

How is the programme funded?

The RSC, supported by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has been successful in its bid for matched funding from the DfES Gateways to the Professions Development Fund.  

A total of £1.3M is available to support for the three-year programme of courses specifically designed to raise the confidence and expertise of non-specialist science teachers teaching KS3 or KS4 chemistry in UK secondary schools.

GSK is supporting the project by providing £150k per year. The RSC is providing £65k per year in addition to administrative and materials support.   

The DfES funding is specifically aimed at supporting courses in England but the RSC and GSK are committed to providing equivalent training courses for teachers across the whole of the UK.

Targets

The three-year programme aims to train 900 teachers per year (2,700 in total).