ENTHUSE Charitable Trust Proposal to The Welcome Trust, May 2021

The ENTHUSE Charitable Trust is spending £3.136m to train science teachers in state-funded schools, targeting those in the most disadvantaged areas. This matters because students from poorer backgrounds in the UK consistently achieve lower results in STEM subjects than their wealthier peers, a gap that limits social mobility and leaves the country with a smaller pool of future scientists, engineers, and technicians. The problem is not just about resources in the classroom—it is also about teacher confidence, leadership, and retention. Many science teachers in under-resourced schools lack access to high-quality professional development, and the profession struggles to keep experienced staff. If this succeeds, the immediate change will be in classrooms: teachers will deliver more effective science lessons, students will gain a clearer understanding of STEM career routes, and the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers should narrow. Over time, this could strengthen the UK’s science and technology workforce, improve the quality of school leadership in STEM, and raise morale among teachers—reducing the number who leave the profession. The funding is part of a broader income mix, but the core aim is systemic: to make high-quality science teaching the norm, not the exception, in the schools that need it most.