Today the government published data from the latest initial teaching training (ITT) census.

The release includes information on new entrants to ITT courses this academic year. Given the ongoing crisis in teacher recruitment - and the Labour government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers - this is important data.

The headline statistic is that there were 23,011 new entrants to postgraduate ITT, equating to 69 per cent of the government’s target of 33,355.

Primary fared best, recruiting 8,258 teachers and hitting 88 per cent of its target - a notable decline from 94 per cent last year. Meanwhile, secondary had 14,753 new teachers, an improvement on last year’s 12,738 but still 38 per cent off its target.

So what else do you need to know? Here are the key takeaways for school leaders.

1. Some subjects are clear winners

Biology had 1,336 new entrants this year, a significant 45 per cent increase on last year, and representing 119 per cent of the subject’s target for recruitment - the first time it has met its target since 2021-22.

English also did well, with 2,312 entrants compared with last year’s 2,180, meaning it just passed its target - the first time it has done so in three years.

Both biology and English were included in the government’s ITT bursary scheme, suggesting such incentives work. However, in 2025 the incentive for English will be halved, so we’ll have to wait until this time next year to see the impact.

Alongside biology and English, the only other subjects to hit their targets this year were history (116 per cent), Classics (250 per cent) and PE (209 per cent).

2. Subjects moving in the right direction

Other subjects did manage to recruit more teachers, but were still off target. For example, computing had 495 entrants this year, up from 407 last year, but this equated to only 37 per cent of the target.

It’s a similar picture with physics, which had 681 new entrants this year (compared with 465 last year) but represented only 30 per cent of its target.

Meanwhile, maths is also making progress, with 2,221 entrants this year, up on 1,797 last year, and creeping up to 72 per cent of the target, up from 61 per cent last year.

Entrants for maths, computing and physics receive the top level of bursary funding. These moves in the right direction suggest the scheme is working, albeit not as quickly as needed.

In line with this sentiment, James Zuccollo, director for school workforce at the Education Policy Institute, says there remains “a long way to go to meet the government’s targets” and that “this reinforces the need for financial incentives to continue and for teachers’ pay to improve”.

Pessimistically, Zuccollo adds: “Despite the improvements, shortage subjects remain a long way from their targets and it is unlikely that enough graduates in subjects like physics, music and computing will ever be recruited to ITT to fill the gaps.”

Away from Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, music saw a similar mixed picture with a 50 per cent increase on last year - 330, up from 214 - yet reaching just 27 per cent of its target. Art and design was similar, with 718 entrants, almost double the intake of 366 last year, but still only hitting 66 per cent of its target.

There was also progress in modern foreign languages, which had 1,084 new entrants this year, an improvement on last year’s 949, but meeting just 43 per cent of its target.

Meanwhile, religious education inched closer to its target - at 79 per cent - owing to an increase in entrants from 269 last year to 459 this year.

These improvements are also linked to the bursaries, says Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research. “It is telling that subjects such as art and design, biology, music and religious education saw significant increases to their bursaries, and subsequent improvements to recruitment figures,” he says.

He adds: “This echoes our report from last year, which showed that bursary increases are associated with improvements to ITT recruitment.”

3. Subjects going backwards

While most subjects did see an increase, two were heading in the wrong direction.

Drama had a slight drop in entrants, from 227 to 218 this year, meaning it is down to 48 per cent of its target.

Business studies is also suffering, with 185 entrants this year, down from 201 last year - and on just 15 per cent of its target.

Meanwhile, the “other subjects” category, which includes media and communication studies, social studies, citizenship and psychology, was slightly down too, with 274 trainees, compared with 295 last year (although both figures meant it hit a very lowly 13 per cent of its target).

4. Regional insights (and one big winner)

Some regions have seen a significant uptick in the number of new teachers, such as Yorkshire and the Humber, which had 3,910 new teachers this year - an increase of almost 1,000 on the 2,941 hired last year. This is also the highest number of new teachers in the region since 2019-20.

Jonny Uttley, CEO of the Education Alliance, a Yorkshire-based multi-academy trust, calls the news “a real bright spot”, adding that the region’s improvement may be down to Yorkshire’s “fantastic universities”, “deep well of graduate talent” and “the collaborative approach of Yorkshire training providers”.

“Many Yorkshire-based ITT providers work in close partnership and put the promotion of the teaching profession generally above the promotion of their own institutions,” he says.

The West Midlands and London also fared well, each hiring at least 500 more teachers than last year - from 2,246 to 2,701 in the West Midlands and from 4,710 to 5,233 in the capital.

Other regions fared less well though. In the North West, entrants dropped from 3,045 last year to 2,668 this year - the lowest number since 2019, and just half the 2020-21 rate.

It was a similar picture in the North East, where new teacher numbers dropped from 810 last year to 663 this year, also the lowest since 2019-20, and just 45 per cent of the 2019-20 intake of 1,483.

Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, tells Tes the data underlined a recent survey that had revealed school leaders’ concerns about recruiting new teachers, “with a decline in both the quality of applicants and the size of the recruitment pool”.

Zarraga said it is “concerning” that the North East “is seeing such declines in entrants to ITT”, adding that without consistency and quality, “school staff are unable to adequately support all students”, a particular concern for rural areas and areas of long-term disadvantage.

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5. The number of older teachers has grown

As expected, the majority of new teachers are under 25, with 11,712 - or 51 per cent of the total cohort - in this age range.

The number of those joining the profession reduces as we move up the age range, as you’d imagine, but there has been a slight increase in some older age brackets.

In total, 819 teachers between the ages of 45 and 49 joined the profession this year, the most in this group since 2021-22. In the 50-54 category, 530 teachers joined this year, the most since 2019-20, and the same was true in the 55 and over category, with 283 new joiners.

6. The profession is (slowly) becoming more ethnically diverse

This year, a total of 3,171, or 14 per cent of entrants identifying as Asian/Asian British, entered the profession. This is 533 more than last year and the highest percentage since 2019.

There are also more entrants identifying as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, with 1,445 entrants this year, 369 more than last year.

These entrants now make up 7 per cent of all trainees, following the positive trend that has been in play since 2019, when they made up 4 per cent.

Pinky Jain, head of teacher education at Leeds Beckett University, describes this news as “encouraging”, adding that “there is, however, still much to be done to ensure that we maintain this trajectory and encourage the whole of the teaching workforce to be diverse at all levels”.

7. The gender imbalance remains

Other characteristics in the sector are more stagnant, such as gender.

Overall, 68 per cent of all trainees were female, while 31 per cent of trainees were male (the DfE data does not quite round to 100)

As expected, the gender imbalance was starkest at primary level, where just 16 per cent of teachers were male - the same figure for the fourth year in a row. Meanwhile, at secondary, male trainees make up 39 per cent - the fifth year in a row that the identical percentage has been recorded.

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