Eligible further education (FE) teachers can apply for the second round of targeted retention incentive payments (up to £6,000) from 2 March 2026 until 31 May 2026.
The scheme applies to courses in the following subject areas:
- building and construction
- chemistry
- computing, including digital and ICT
- early years
- engineering and manufacturing, including transport engineering and electronics
- maths
- physics
Check the full list of eligible FE courses on the DfE website to see if you can claim a payment.
You must be in the first 5 years of your FE teaching career to claim. This means you must have started your first role with the responsibilities of an FE teacher at a post-16 only education (FE) provider in England during or after the 2021 to 2022 academic year.
If you started your FE teaching career in England during the 2020 to 2021 academic year or before, you are not eligible to claim.
Eligibility criteria are subject to change.
For full details, you can view detailed guidance here.
Looking for your next opportunity in FE? View jobs from FE colleges across the country.
Additional update published 01/10/25 about claims window:
To better support FE providers to retain key STEM and technical specialists within FE throughout the whole academic year, for academic year 2025 to 2026, the targeted retention incentive claim window will open in March 2026.
Eligible teachers can claim up to £6,000 if they are in their first 5 years of teaching key STEM and technical subjects, in all further education (FE) colleges.
Teachers employed by eligible FE providers during academic year 2025 to 2026, who meet the criteria, can submit claims between Monday 2 March and Sunday 31 May 2026.
Human resource (HR) staff at eligible FE providers can verify teachers’ claims from Monday 13 April 2026.
Further detail will be shared with HR staff in due course.
Eligible FE providers include:
- general FE colleges
- sixth form colleges
- specialist designated institutions
- 16 to 19 only academies and schools
For queries, contact the FE-targeted.retention-incentive@education.gov.uk.