The Government is failing to recruit and keep top graduates
in the teaching profession, according to Department for Education
data.
Analysis of the data, published today by the , shows that the teacher
training bursary, designed to increase applications and boost the
numbers of teachers in subjects where it is difficult to recruit
trainees, is failing to recruit and keep top graduates in the
profession.
Teacher trainees awarded the maximum bursary of £25,000
were almost twice as likely to end up not teaching in state
funded schools after they qualified as their peers who were not
awarded a bursary.
In 2015/16 just 80% of postgraduate teacher trainees awarded the
maximum bursary of £25,000 were found teaching in state funded
schools after they qualified, compared to 89% of trainees not
awarded a bursary.
Labour analysis shows that in total nearly £22 million of
taxpayers’ money has been wasted on bursaries for trainees who
did not go on to take up a teaching post.
This analysis comes as teacher enrolment has reached “crisis”
point, with the Government failing to meet its teacher training
targets for the sixth consecutive year and teachers leaving the
profession at the highest rate since records began.
£6 million was spent on bursaries worth at least £25,000 for
students with First class degrees in Chemistry, Computing,
Mathematics, Modern Foreign Language and Physics who did not go
on to teach once they had qualified.
According to Department for Education data, the proportion of
trainees found teaching in state funded schools after qualifying
is inversely proportionate to the size of the state funded
subsidy they received, with the number of trainees receiving
larger bursaries less likely to go on to teach.
Commenting, Shadow Education Secretary said:
“The Government’s strategy to deal with the teacher
recruitment and retention crisis they have created is failing
badly, and it is taxpayers who are paying the price for the
failures of Tory Ministers.
“They have missed recruitment targets in
six consecutive years and their inability to attract
high achieving graduates to the profession is wasting taxpayers’
money and letting students down.
“Years of real terms pay cuts have made it impossible for schools
to recruit the staff they need, and teachers are leaving the
profession in record numbers. There is a generation of children
paying the price for Tory failure in our schools.
“Through our National Education Service, Labour will invest
in our schools and provide ring-fenced funding to give teachers
the pay rise they deserve.”
Ends
Notes to editors
· According
to the DfE, these bursaries are designed to incentivise
applications in subjects where it is difficult to recruit
trainees. The Department targets the subjects where it is most
challenging to recruit sufficient trainees with the highest
bursary awards.
Dfe, Destinations of trainee teachers awarded a
bursary
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
· In
2015/16 just 80% of postgraduate teacher trainees awarded the
maximum bursary of £25,000 were found teaching in state funded
schools after they qualified, compared to 89% of trainees not
awarded a bursary
- £25,000 or more was awarded to postgraduate teacher trainees
with Firsts in Chemistry, Computing, Mathematics, MFL and
Physics.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
- · In 2015/16 bursary
values of £25,000 or more were awarded for the first time.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
- · The DfE measures
employment in this analysis as whether the trainee has appeared
in the state-funded school workforce at any time up until
November 2017.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
- · According to the
DfE, higher value bursaries are targeted at subjects that are
difficult to recruit to, such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology and
Mathematics, with lower value bursary awards generally targeted
towards subjects like English, Design & Technology, History
and Religious Education.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
- · Postgraduates in
these difficult to recruit subjects are also the least likely to
gain Qualified Teacher Status at all. Between 2009/10 and 2015/16
85 per cent of postgraduates in physics were awarded QTS; 88
percent in Computing and 90 per cent in Chemistry. This compares
to 96 per cent in History.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751197/Annex_-_Destinations_of_trainee_teachers_awarded_a_bursary__1_.pdf
- · The Government
falls short of teacher training targets in most secondary school
subjects.
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”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/government-teacher-training-targets-recruitment-dfe-secondary-school-shortages-a8659846.html
- · This year, the
Government missed its teacher recruitment target by 17%,
recruiting 3,394 fewer trainees than needed. Only 47% of the
target for physics teachers was met.
https://www.tes.com/news/dfe-must-rise-challenge-teacher-recruitment-crisis
- · Teachers are
leaving profession at highest rate since records began, with one
in three teachers quitting within the first five years.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/teachers-are-leaving-profession-at-highest-rate-since-records-began_uk_5b8c464fe4b0162f4724c4c3
