Why are subject knowledge enhancement grants so important for RE?

The government has missed the target for recruiting trainee secondary teachers of RE for 13 of the last 14 years. One of the reasons for this is they are not recruiting sufficient trainees from outside traditional routes into RE teaching i.e. Theology and Religious Studies and Philosophy to fill PGCE courses and meet school demand. We need graduates with other specialisms who are enthusiastic about our subject to train to teach RE. Currently there are far too many teachers who mainly teach another subject and who have been offered little or no training, being allocated lessons in RE to fill their timetables. Asking teachers to teach outside their specialisms has been proven to affect teacher confidence and teacher retention. This article explains the current picture.
A Parliamentary Question on RE recruitment - July 2025