The proportion of trainees who dropped out or did not achieve qualified teacher status (QTS) has reached its highest level in six years, according to the latest annual data published by the Department for Education.
Eight per cent of postgraduate trainees failed to complete courses or qualify as teachers in the 2022-23 academic year, up from 7 per cent in the previous year - which was then the highest level recorded in five years.
The rate of trainees failing to achieve QTS has increased year-on-year for three years, according to DfE data, which shows that 4 per cent failed to qualify in 2019-20.
These statistics do not include people who dropped out in the first 90 days of their course.
‘5,000 fewer teacher trainees entering the workforce’
A total of 21,575 of the 23,385 postgraduate trainees who completed courses in 2022-23 were awarded QTS and 1,810 were not.
The department said that of the 21,575 postgraduate trainees awarded QTS in 2022-23, it provisionally estimates that 76 per cent will be teaching in a state-funded school within 16 months of the end of the 2022-23 academic year.
This is an increase from 74 per cent in 2021-22. However, there was also a marked drop in the total number of postgraduate trainees who completed courses in 2022-23 at 23,385, compared with 31,747 in 2021-22.
According to DfE estimates, there will be more than 5,000 fewer teacher trainees entering the workforce from the 2022-23 cohort as just 16,307 students completed their courses, compared with 21,830 in 2021-22.
‘Opportunity follows them out the door’
The previous government missed its target for the recruitment of secondary teacher trainees by 50 per cent last year.
The newly-elected Labour government has pledged to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers as part of its manifesto plans.
Yesterday, education secretary Bridget Phillipson addressed the teacher recruitment and retention crisis during an education debate in the House of Commons.
She said: “Any curriculum is only as strong as the teachers who teach it, and today those teachers are leaving the classroom, not in dribs and drabs but in their droves. And I know that too often opportunity follows them out the door. I am working tirelessly to turn this around.”
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