Commenting on the release of the trainee number census for
2018-19, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of
the National Education Union, said:
“We are at a crisis in secondary teacher recruitment. For the
sixth year in a row, the Department for Education has failed to
recruit enough secondary teachers overall, based on its own
targets. They will say they are training more teachers than ever
but the problem is compounded year on year, as each year's
targets do not seek to address pre-existing shortages or previous
missed targets.
“Physics has only recruited 47% of the number of trainees the DfE
says it needs, down 19 percentage points on its performance
against target last year. Maths recruitment is also worse this
year, as are Chemistry and Modern Foreign Languages. With 428,000
more pupils forecast for state-funded secondary schools by 2025,
an increase of 15% on 2018 figures, the NEU has serious concerns
that the Government does not have teacher supply under control.
“It is pleasing to see Primary targets met, along with Biology,
English and History. However, recruitment to training courses is
only one piece of a puzzle. Retention is also a huge problem with
one third of teachers leaving within the first 5 years of
qualifying. (1) This is clearly bad for the education of children
and young people.
“Another clear message is that the UK is failing to attract
overseas teachers; the award of QTS for EEA nationals is down 25%
on last year, and non-EEA nationals 14%.
“If we are to recruit and retain the teachers we need, Government
must look and act very quickly on the issues of pay, workload and
ensuring all schools are properly funded.
ENDS
Editor’s Note:
- Teacher
recruitment and retention in England, Briefing Paper, House of
Commons Library, 17 October 2018 (see point 2.4)https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7222
