My Lords, the Liberal Democrats have previously raised the issue of paying teachers a large training salary before they are qualified. As I have said before, I believe that that is unrealistic and that it would not be right to pay a salary at that level before someone is qualified. My Lords, there is a substantial increase in the number applying for teacher training. I said that only last week when we debated the whole issue of the supply of teachers. Of course, it is a little early to say what the final figure will be.
More figures are due to be released next week.
However, the latest figures show that PGCE applications are up by 12 per cent on the same time last year. It is particularly pleasing to note that applications for science are up by 20 per cent and for technology by 53 per cent. Those are two key shortage areas. Junior school teachers are as important as people who teach physics and mathematics. My Lords, of course it has.