Responding to the initial teacher training census for the
academic year 2022/23, which shows only 59% of secondary teachers
and 93% of primary teachers were recruited compared to target
figures, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said: “These figures for recruiting
trainee teachers are nothing short of catastrophic.
“The government has consistently missed its own targets for
recruitment over the course of the past decade but this is a new
low. Teacher shortages are already at crisis point and such a
substantial shortfall in recruiting trainees means this situation
will become even worse. The shortfall in physics teachers – only
17% of target – is particularly concerning as this subject
already suffers from acute shortages, but the same is true of
modern foreign languages, computing, design and technology, and a
number of other subjects.
“A key cause of this crisis is the long-term erosion of teacher
pay which has fallen in real-terms by a fifth since 2010 making
it uncompetitive in the graduate market place. This is compounded
by the government’s underfunding of schools which has driven up
workload and made the profession less attractive. The government
has to recognise and address these pressures instead of
constantly burying its head in the sand. No target or ambition
for education is achievable without the ability to put teachers
in front of classes and it is increasingly difficult to do that.”
