The number of final year postgraduate teacher trainees who were yet to complete their course hit 8 per cent in 2020-21 - up from 5 per cent the previous year.
New government figures show that at the end of the 2020-21 academic year, 2,909 (8 per cent) of final year postgraduate trainees were yet to complete their course and 1,597 (5 per cent) were not awarded qualified teacher status (QTS).
These proportions are an increase compared to the previous year, which saw 1,391 (5 per cent) of trainees yet to complete courses by the end of 2019-20, and 1,172 (4 per cent) were not awarded QTS.
The Department for Education said the rise was caused by “disruption” during the pandemic, and that the students were supported with various measures including course extensions.
In total, 30,865 were awarded QTS in 2020-21, a big increase on the 26,751 qualifying the year before, which has been attributed to the impact of the pandemic on the labour market.
Students who do not complete their course by the end of the academic year can still go on to achieve QTS, but alternatively, they can end up leaving the course before the end, or completing their course without being awarded QTS in a later academic year.
A DfE spokesperson said: “The number of final year postgraduate trainees being awarded QTS remains high, with 30,865 in 2020-21, up from 26,751 in the previous academic year.
“Some trainees were yet to complete their QTS course in 2020-21 due to disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic. We supported them using a range of measures including funding course extensions and amending the [initial teacher training] criteria, allowing providers to adapt courses and minimise disruption so trainees could successfully finish their courses.”
Of those that qualified as teachers, the DfE estimates that, within sixteen months of qualification, 22,380 will be employed as a teacher in a state-funded school in England.
This is equivalent to 73 per cent of postgraduate trainees awarded QTS, down from 74 per cent in 2019-20 and 78 per cent in 2018-19.
The figures come against a backdrop of concern over teacher recruitment.
Data from June showed that the number of trainees placed on secondary school teaching courses was nearly a fifth below pre-pandemic levels.
While secondary schools’ advertised vacancies have increased by 14 per cent compared with levels seen before the pandemic, according to a new report.
