Commenting on the government missing targets for trainee teacher
recruitment in England for 2023/24, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“This catastrophic shortfall in postgraduate trainee teacher
recruitment has plumbed new depths. Just half of the required
number of trainee secondary teachers have been recruited and
there are huge deficits in maths, physics, computing, modern
foreign languages and other subjects. It is even worse than last
year – which was itself a new low point – and follows years of
missed targets. The government has in fact missed its target for
secondary subjects in every year since 2012/13, except for a
short-lived uptick in numbers during the Covid pandemic in
2020/21.
“The supply of new teachers is simply not sufficient to meet the
needs of the education system, and we then lose far too many
early in their careers. Our schools and colleges must have the
teachers they need in order to deliver a great education to our
children and young people. It is the vital resource upon which
every target and ambition depends. However, just this week, the
latest PISA international study found that a lack of teaching
staff was reported to be the most common barrier to teaching in
England.
“As former Schools Minister has himself said there’s only one
real answer – a properly well-rewarded teaching profession. Yet,
the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement provided no more money for
education and this makes any meaningful pay award unaffordable
next year. This is on top of 13 years of pay erosion which has
left teaching salaries lagging behind in the labour market.
“We appeal to the government to see sense and take action. There
is simply no issue in education that is more important than
fixing the broken teacher pipeline.”
