Maya's Story

Maya, 25, from Sheffield Heeley wanted to become a secondary school teacher in Yorkshire and The Humber. She had the qualifications, the passion, and knew schools desperately needed teachers in her subject area. But when she looked into teacher training, she discovered that HM Treasury and the Department for Education had slashed bursaries for her subject, despite critical shortages across the region. The classrooms were there, qualified graduates were ready to train, but Westminster chose not to fund the connection. Maya's story reveals how central government spending caps create artificial teacher shortages while young people who want to serve their communities are blocked from doing so. This episode examines the political choices that keep our schools understaffed. Blocked Britain is produced independently and receives no government funding.