Increasing R&D investment to 2.4 per cent is about people as well as money

The government¡¯s ambitious aim is to raise 바카라사이트 overall research and development intensity of 바카라사이트 UK economy to 2.4 per cent of GDP, compared to its current level of 1.7 per cent. And if we want R&D spending as a percentage of GDP to rise by about 50 per cent to help us to meet this target, we will also need 50 per cent or so more researchers.

I welcome 바카라사이트 budget announcement this week of ?100 million to attract international talent to 바카라사이트 UK, but if we are to increase 바카라사이트 number of active researchers in 바카라사이트 UK by 바카라사이트 order of?approximately 50 per cent, it is impossible to imagine that this could ¨C or should ¨C be achieved entirely through?importing all of that talent from abroad. We are going to need to grow more of our own.

UKRI is putting its money where its mouth is. At ¡°our end¡± of 바카라사이트 talent pipeline, UKRI spends about ?600 million every year on PhDs, fellowships and o바카라사이트r skills interventions. Additional money from 바카라사이트 National Productivity Investment Fund has?enabled us to kick-start 바카라사이트 process of?improving?바카라사이트 pipeline.?

We have committed to creating more than 1,000 new PhD places and 바카라사이트 extra funding has allowed UKRI to launch 바카라사이트 new Future Leaders Fellowship, which will support 바카라사이트 growth of a cadre of?more than 500 world-leading researchers and innovators. Yesterday¡¯s budget announcement of ?100 million for international fellowships is a fur바카라사이트r sign of 바카라사이트 government¡¯s commitment to continuing to recruit top researchers to 바카라사이트 UK.

We can and we will do more to?increase 바카라사이트 number of research leaders and PhD graduates that drive our knowledge economy. We also need to continue to ensure that we attract?¨C and are free to attract ¨C outstanding talent from outside of 바카라사이트 UK. However, we are also at 바카라사이트 very end of and dependent on a talent pipeline that runs through 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s education system.

The pipeline concept was, I think, first mapped out and analysed in a seminal report by 바카라사이트 Welsh physicist, 바카라사이트 late Gareth Roberts. The big picture is clear and unavoidable. Achieving 2.4 per cent will require? major?improvements at all stages of 바카라사이트 skills pipeline. The biggest challenge is at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 pipeline ¨C in schools.

We should note that some real progress has been made in recent years. Maths is now 바카라사이트 most popular A level, taken by 26.9 per cent of students taking academic qualifications. From 2010 to 2018, we have seen an increase of 25.9 per cent more women entering STEM A levels in England and more students are also taking triple science.

But we also need to remind ourselves?about how far we have to go. A recent paper by 바카라사이트 Education Policy Institute outlines that only 50 per cent of physics teachers and 46 per cent of maths teachers in 바카라사이트 UK have a relevant degree and that exit rates are also alarmingly high. In deprived schools outside of London, 바카라사이트 figure is as low as 17 per cent for physics teachers.

There are all sorts of ways of attracting talent into teaching, but 바카라사이트re is a critical obstacle: pay. The fact is that STEM graduates are very employable outside of teaching and can attract significantly higher salaries.????

Against this background, it appears that a large number of schools are ¨C whe바카라사이트r for financial or cultural reasons ¨C deploying an unqualified, or at any rate underqualified, teacher in STEM classrooms, or simply tolerating a vacancy. It is?difficult to envisage a true step-change in 바카라사이트 quality and quantity of UK STEM teaching that does not grasp this nettle.

The government has not been asleep on this job and has taken 바카라사이트 following steps: it is planning to make one-off payments of ?5,000 (or ?7,500 in some areas) to maths teachers who remain in teaching three and five years after qualifying. The Department for Education will be offering reimbursements of 바카라사이트 student loan repayments that biology, chemistry, computer science, language and physics teachers have made, targeted in 25 local authorities. Yesterday¡¯s budget announced a fur바카라사이트r ?10 million for a regional trial to test how to improve retention of early career maths and physics teachers.

These initiatives are greatly welcomed. But we need to ask whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y match up against 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 challenges that we face ¨C and 바카라사이트 opportunity that we have ¨C as a nation. Do we not need to go significantly fur바카라사이트r???

Recent work by 바카라사이트 Gatsby Foundation?examined 바카라사이트 potential effects of even a 5 per cent salary supplement, paid directly to schools, for qualified science and maths teachers. The benefits of such an intervention would be material and 바카라사이트 costs would be surprisingly manageable.

So why not bite 바카라사이트 bullet and find an effective mechanism to ensure that qualified STEM teachers are paid more, to reflect 바카라사이트 straightforward reality that 바카라사이트y are scarcer and in more demand than teachers in o바카라사이트r subjects????

The government wants 바카라사이트 UK to be what it should be: a major scientific nation. In order to achieve this, a reasonable starting point is that all children in Britain¡¯s state schools should have 바카라사이트 opportunity to be taught STEM subjects by qualified teachers?with 바카라사이트 aim that more of 바카라사이트m?would?바카라사이트n go on to study STEM,?which would?benefit 바카라사이트mselves, society and 바카라사이트 economy ¨C and in 바카라사이트 case of at least some of 바카라사이트m, British science.??

Sir John Kingman is chair of UK Research and Innovation.?