Education Policy Institute to publish report on teacher shortages

• England faces a growing challenge to recruit sufficient teachers. Staff/pupil ratios have risen from 15.5 in 2010 to 17 in 2018, and in priority subjects such as maths and science, around half of teachers have left their posts within five years.

• In shortage subjects, including maths and physics, only a minority of teachers possess a relevant degree. Less than half of GCSE maths teachers have a maths or science degree – for graduates with these degrees, the average pay is higher in other jobs.

• Schools teaching poor children particularly struggle to attract teachers with degrees in maths and science. Outside London, fewer than 1 in 5 (17%) physics teachers in the most disadvantaged schools have a relevant degree versus 52% in the most affluent non-London schools. In maths, fewer than 2 in 5 (37%) have a relevant degree in disadvantaged schools, versus 51% in the most affluent schools.

• Areas with the lowest proportions of teachers with a degree in shortage subjects are Portsmouth, Hampshire, Newham, Barnsley and Doncaster.

• The government should consider rolling out a more ambitious scheme to give additional pay supplements in shortage subjects such as maths and sciences, particularly for those teaching in the most disadvantaged schools.
   

A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), published on Thursday, August 30, assesses the state of the teacher labour market in England.

The new research considers the latest trends in the profession, and examines the latest figures on how the quality of teachers varies across different subjects, areas in the country, and at different levels of school deprivation. This is crucial, given children’s school attainment and life chances are greatly impacted by the level of teacher quality.

The teaching profession faces increased uncertainty in the years ahead, with shortages developing in many areas. Ensuring that there are enough teachers in schools across the country, and enough highly-qualified individuals in these roles, will be a huge domestic policy challenge for the government.
 

Key findings

Teacher shortages and other pressures

• Pupil numbers have risen by around 10 % since 2010 – while teacher numbers have remained steady. This means that pupil-to-teacher ratios have risen from around 15.5 in 2010 to nearly 17 by 2018.
• Teacher training applications are down by 5%, while training targets have been persistently missed in maths and science.
• Exit rates have also increased, and are particularly high early on in teachers’ careers. Only 60% of teachers remained in state-funded schools five years after starting.  For ‘high-priority’ subjects like physics and maths, this 5-year retention drops to just 50%.
• Teacher pay has declined by about 10 % in real-terms since 2010 – but the recent announcement of pay rises of up to 3.5 % from September 2018 will halt this real-terms decline.
• With many able to earn more outside of teaching, England faces a great challenge recruiting new graduates. In maths, average graduate salaries are £4,000 above those of teachers.
   

Highly-qualified teachers: variations by subject

Levels of teacher quality in secondary schools vary considerably depending on the subject:

• Maths and most science subjects in particular struggle to attract highly-qualified teachers – with as little as half of teachers holding a relevant degree. Under 50% hold a relevant degree in maths and physics. These subjects, with the lowest proportion of highly-qualified teachers, are also those with the greatest recruitment and retention problems.
• Languages also struggle to secure teachers with relevant degrees: just 40-50% hold one.
• Conversely, subjects that have a greater proportion of highly-qualified teachers include those that have significantly less pressure on recruitment and retention – such as biology (78%) and English teachers (67%).

Highly-qualified teachers: London and the rest of England

There are stark differences in how highly-qualified teachers are represented in the most, and least deprived schools in England (at KS4). The socio-economic gap is much greater outside of London:

• In areas outside of London, just over a third (37%) of maths teachers and just under half (45%) of chemistry teachers in the poorest schools had a relevant degree. In more affluent schools outside of London, the proportions are far higher for maths (51%) and chemistry (68%).
• Shortages of highly-qualified teachers in these poorer schools appear to be the most severe in physics. In the worst-off schools outside of London, fewer than 1 in 5 of physics teachers (17%) have a relevant degree. In more affluent schools outside of London, the figure rises significantly to just over half (52%).

In London, differences in how highly-qualified teachers are represented are far smaller:

• In maths, the proportion of teachers with a degree ranges between 40-50% for all schools, regardless of deprivation level - while in chemistry, it remains above 60%.
• There are also a much greater proportion of highly-qualified physics teachers in the capital – with between 40-50% holding a relevant degree, regardless of school deprivation level.
   

Highly-qualified teachers in local authorities

The research also locates large disparities in teacher quality across local authorities:

• The proportion of teachers with a relevant degree is high in London and the South East of England, as well as areas such as Bath and North East Somerset, Rochdale, and, Darlington.
• The proportion of teachers with a relevant degree is low in South and West Yorkshire, the Welsh Borders, the fringes of Birmingham, East Anglia, and the South Coast.
• Areas such as Portsmouth, Hampshire, Newham, Barnsley and Doncaster have the lowest proportions of teachers with a degree in shortage subjects.
   

Tackling teacher shortages: introduce financial incentives

• There is strong evidence that providing salary supplements to teachers in some subjects would alleviate shortages - such as in maths and science.
• Schools in England are able to make such payments already - however, they would have to be drawn from existing budgets, which would present financial challenges.
• The government should therefore consider a national salary supplement scheme, centrally funded and directed by the Department for Education.
• Bonus payments of £5,000 for maths teachers are currently being trialled – yet this programme is limited in scope, and the pilot process may be lengthy. It also fails to target many local authorities that are the most in need of highly-qualified teachers. 
• Given the scale and severity of shortages in the teacher labour market, and the known links between teacher quality and pupil outcomes, the government should introduce salary supplements in hard-to-staff areas and subjects without delay.

David Laws, Executive Chairman of the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:

“This report demonstrates that the government faces a significant challenge to recruit enough teachers – particularly in subjects such as maths and sciences. It must already be a concern that as little as half of GCSE maths teachers don’t have a maths or sciences degree.

“Of particular concern is the unequal access to subject-qualified teachers for more disadvantaged schools outside London. In maths, physics and chemistry poor children are much more likely to be taught by teachers who don’t have relevant degrees. We need to make it more attractive for some of our best qualified teachers to teach in our most challenging schools.”
 

Luke Sibieta, report author and Research Fellow at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:

“The teacher labour market is suffering from a number of severe shortages, especially with graduates, who are often able to earn much more in other roles. Many priority subjects such as maths and science are failing to attract enough highly-qualified professionals. Our research finds that in some parts of England, just 1 in 5 physics teachers have a relevant degree.   

“There is strong evidence that these pressures can be alleviated by targeted salary supplements. Policy-makers have begun to consider this potential solution, yet so far proposals have been far too modest, and exclude many of the areas most in need.

“The government should therefore rollout a more ambitious scheme which offers incentives to teachers in a greater number of shortage subjects, covering more areas. This is critical if we are to relieve some of the growing strains in the workforce, and protect pupil outcomes.”

ENDS.

Notes to editors

• We refer to ‘highly-qualified’ teachers as those holding a relevant degree.
• We use the Department for Education (DfE) definition of a ‘relevant degree’. For example, in physics this would include physics, engineering, or astronomy – but not biology or chemistry. See DfE’s ‘Qualification subject mappings’ for the full list of subjects.
• The DfE defines ‘high-priority’ subjects as maths, physics, chemistry, and languages. These are considered ‘high-priority’ for DfE recruitment purposes.
• ‘Other subjects’ include English, biology, geography, history, art & design, design & technology.
• Subjects such as computing are excluded due to small sample sizes.