Ash's Story

Ash, 28, from Bolton North East in the North West, wanted to become a teacher in a subject facing critical shortages. The classrooms were there, the graduates ready to teach were there, but the Department for Education had reduced training bursaries for shortage subjects in the North West. Westminster set national recruitment targets that ignore regional disparities because Treasury spending rules force each department to compete for a fixed pot, as though the government that creates the currency must first find it somewhere. This is Ash's story of how a political choice by central government blocked their path into education. Blocked Britain is produced independently. We receive no government funding and accept no advertising from political parties.