RSC teacher training scholarships to attract top graduates to become exceptional chemistry teachers

New teacher training scholarships in chemistry led by the RSC have been announced today.  

The RSC is looking for individuals who are passionate about chemistry and have the potential to be exceptional chemistry teachers to become RSC Scholars.

Each scholar will receive a £20,000 bursary to train as a teacher in addition to a tailored package of support, including access to national and regional chemistry education support networks, and RSC membership.

Any graduate with a first class or 2.1 degree will be eligible to apply for an RSC scholarship on a chemistry Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course. Around 130 scholarships will be available for chemistry graduates to train and teach in England.

Working with experts in teaching practice, the RSC will award scholarships to candidates with exceptional subject knowledge, enthusiasm for the study of chemistry, and outstanding potential to teach. 

The RSC will continue to support scholars beyond their training year into their teaching careers, to develop a cohort of outstanding chemistry teachers who are part of a chemical sciences community across schools, universities and industry.

The scholarship comes as part of the Government's teacher training strategy, Training our next generation of outstanding teachers.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: "If we want to have an education system that ranks with the best in the world, then we need to attract the best people into the profession, and we need to give them outstanding training.

"By joining up with the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry, the scholarship will help make sure we have excellent chemistry teachers in this country with deep subject knowledge. They will help raise the status of the teaching profession and also make a huge difference in the lives of children." 

RSC Chief Executive Dr Robert Parker said: "The RSC is delighted to be leading this exciting initiative. We believe passionately in the need for inspirational teaching, and our fervent hope is that this scholarship will increase the number of inspirational chemistry teachers. 

"It is also crucial to drive an increase in the number of chemistry-qualified teachers who teach the subject. The RSC always seeks to support teachers advancing the chemical sciences in education, not just because it is good for the students - it is also good for the country to have scientifically literate young people in all walks of life to raise Britain's industrial and commercial competitiveness in an increasingly competitive world." 

Professor Sir Harry Kroto, British joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, who now lectures at Florida State University, said:

"In an age in which almost every day we see the development of new technical breakthroughs which impinge on our everyday lives in significant ways, it is vital that we nurture an overall population which understands technology and is aware of scientific ways of thinking.

"This scheme is most welcome and should help enormously to ensure more young people are inspired by this new cohort of outstanding chemistry teachers. 

"It is vital that they will be able to pass on their enthusiasm for chemistry, the subject on which essentially all survival and sustainability issues depend. Important decisions involving chemistry-related issues will confront the next generation."