The Bank of England is backing a drive to put more economics teachers into state schools, as a report has revealed young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are the least likely to study the subject.
Targeting students in the north-west of England in its first year, the scheme will aim to overcome huge shortages of teachers across the state sector with the skills to teach economics.
The central bank said economics was taught as an A-level subject in just over half of non-selective state schools in England last year, compared with 90% of selective schools and 82% of private schools.
Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds were half as likely to take an economics GCSE as those from more privileged households, where disadvantage was classed as having registered for free school meals at some point in the six years before sitting the exam.
To overcome the disparity, secondary school teachers will be offered training to deliver A-level economics teaching alongside their core subjects.
Clare Lombardelli, who studied economics at a sixth-form college in Stockport and is now a deputy governor at the Bank, said: “Economics is an increasingly popular subject. But it is not available to enough young people across a range of backgrounds.
“An economics qualification can be a gateway for young people to a highly rewarding career – both intellectually and professionally. It also gives people a better understanding of how money works, which is a vital life skill that can benefit all of us.”
The study by FFT Education Datalab for the Bank found that school pupils in London were more than twice as likely to study economics as those in north-west England.
It also found that, despite a 60% rise in the number of pupils enrolling in A-level economics classes since 2012, schools had struggled to recruit staff to replace those nearing retirement.
According to the report, school economics and business departments achieved just 15% of their target numbers for teacher recruitment in 2024-25, compared with an average of 62% across all subjects.
The Bank said its financial support, provided in collaboration with the University of Manchester, would also aim to encourage more women to enter the economics profession.
The report said about 70% of those studying economics at school and undergraduate level were male – a proportion that has not changed since 2012.
It also found that pupils from Asian backgrounds were most strongly represented, with 4.1% of pupils from an Indian background, 3.3% of those from a Chinese background, and 3% of those from a Bangladeshi background taking GCSE economics, compared with 0.6% of white British, and 0.7% of pupils from a mixed white and black Caribbean background.
The three-year programme will begin in September by funding training programmes for 25 teachers in the north-west. An expansion to 50 teachers in the following year will also include Yorkshire and the north-east.
Gareth Taylor, the head of professional development at the Economics, Business and Enterprise Association, which represents economics teachers, said: “There is clear evidence that a shortage and unequal spread of teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach economics is impacting the life chances of young people.
“This much-needed new programme will enable more schools and colleges to offer economics and is an exciting and very welcome development.”
• This article was amended on 1 May 2025. An earlier version said that, of those pupils taking GCSE economics, 4.1% come from an Indian background, 3.3% from a Chinese background, 3% from a Bangladeshi background, 0.6% from a white British background, and 0.7% from a mixed white and black Caribbean background. In fact all of those figures relate to the percentage of pupils within a particular ethnicity who take GCSE economics; for example, 4.1% of pupils from an Indian background do so. This has been corrected.
