While the announcement of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Bursary Scheme for September 2026 is a massive win for the future of Northern Ireland’s education system, it has highlighted a painful reality for those already in the thick of their training.

For students currently enrolled at Stranmillis and St Mary’s the timing feels like a door being slammed just as they reached the threshold.

Students currently in their first, second or third year of a B.Ed  are facing the exact same "acute recruitment challenges" and financial pressures the Department of Education has finally acknowledged. Yet, they are effectively excluded from the life-changing financial support that arrives just one or two years too late for them.

 
 Current students in Mathematics and Technology & Design are already training to fill the "alarming shortage" mentioned by the Department. They are doing the work now, but without the £5,000 annual tuition coverage to help support them. 

Th A student starting their B.Ed in 2026 will graduate with their tuition fully paid. A student who started in 2025 will graduate with approximately £20,000 in tuition debt alone, despite entering the exact same workforce to solve the exact same problem.

 Current students are navigating the cost-of-living crisis in real-time. Many are balancing intensive teaching placements with part-time jobs just to stay afloat, which are stresses the 2026 bursary explicitly aims to "reduce."

Many current students are already committed to staying in Northern Ireland to teach. They are providing the "post-qualification service" the government desires, but they are doing so without the "tax-free financial incentive" being offered to their successors.
 
The Northern Ireland Executive’s decision to fix a broken system is commendable, but the transition period creates a two-tier system among early-career teachers.

 If a subject is a "priority" and the shortage is "critical" today, then the students currently training in those subjects are the most immediate solution to the problem. To offer zero financial relief to those currently in the pipeline feels like a missed opportunity to support the very people already dedicated to the cause.

We believe that Initial Teacher Education should be supported fairly across the board. If the Department can afford to spend £20,000 per student starting in 2026, there should be a conversation about a tapered model for those currently training in shortage subjects.

Current Yr 1 students should be funded for Y2 - Y4. 

Current Yr 2 students should be funded for Y3 - Y4

Current Yr 3 students should be funded for Y4.

Our Message to the Executive is simply not to forget the teachers of 2023, 2024 and 2025. They are the ones who will be holding the system together until the 2026 cohort arrives. They will be the ones piloting the new TransformED curriculum and Investment in education should value those already in the classroom, not just those about to enter it.