Armed forces veterans will receive bursaries of £40,000 to attend university in the hope they will go on to train as teachers, under a new scheme designed to replace the doomed Troops to Teachers programme.

But officials admit they have no way of getting the money back if veterans complete their studies and choose to shun the profession.

The new bursary scheme signals the end of Troops to Teachers, which has so far created just 106 qualified teachers in its five years of existence, despite costing an estimated £10.7 million.

Another 96 former soldiers are currently training under the short-lived scheme, but the course will not recruit any new trainees in September, and will come to an end next year when the current cohort finishes.

The government’s new bursary will be open to non-graduates who have left full-time employment in the army, the Royal Air Force or the Royal Navy in the last five years.

They will be able to claim the bursary if they study a degree in the DfE’s “priority” subjects biology, chemistry, computing, maths and modern foreign languages.

Read the full article on Schools Week.