Ministers have been blasted for axing bursaries for overseas applicants hoping to become trainee physics and languages teachers without notice. The mid-year change was quietly announced at 5pm on Thursday. It means overseas students are no longer eligible for sizeable financial incentives to train to teach physics or languages. The Department for Education said the decision to “pause” overseas eligibility was taken because recruitment has improved. But experts warned this was “not a time for scaling back” approaches to improving teacher supply, and have criticised the DfE for rolling out the change without warning. Recruitment picture improving Bursaries and scholarships to train as a physics or languages teacher were expanded to international students in 2023, as recruitment lagged significantly below target. This year’s funding includes a £29,000 physics bursary and £20,000 bursary for languages. Physics recruitment has almost doubled since 2023, rising from 564 to 1,095 postgraduate trainees, while modern foreign languages recruitment increased by nearly a third, from 1,105 to 1,422. However, the government still missed its recruitment targets for the subjects last year. …