The Labour government must bring forward measures for improving teacher recruitment and retention this autumn, an expert has warned, as the latest data reveals that recruitment targets for secondary trainees are likely to be missed again this year.
Analysis of the latest initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment figures shows that 15,201 postgraduate secondary ITT candidates had been accepted as of September, the last month for recruitment this year.
While this figure is up on the same time period last year, when 13,459 had been recruited, it is still 37 per cent below the target set by the government.
Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers in its election manifesto, but details on how this will be achieved have not yet been set out.
Last year the Conservative government missed its target for the recruitment of secondary teacher trainees by 50 per cent.
Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), said that NFER analysis using the latest Department for Education figures estimates that 12 out of 17 secondary subjects “are very likely to be below target”.
Using DfE data published today, the NFER estimates that the target for the recruitment of primary trainees could be missed by 12 per cent this year, while the target for secondary recruitment could be missed by 40 per cent.
Teacher recruitment ‘remains weak’
He said that while there has been a “small improvement” in secondary recruitment, “driven by bursary increases”, the “underlying recruitment trends remain weak”.
The government is currently offering a number of bursaries - up to £28,000 - in 2024-25 for those training to teach in certain subjects.
Mr Worth said today: “As the new government took office so late in the recruitment cycle, it is unsurprising that this picture is unchanged since the July election. But the government will need to bring forward measures for improving recruitment and retention this autumn.”
As of September, government figures published today show that just 15 per cent of the DfE’s target for business studies teacher trainees had been recruited on to courses.
And just 39 per cent of the DfE’s recruitment target has so far been achieved in both design and technology and music.
The figure sits at 40 per cent for computing and 44 per cent for physics.
At primary, figures published today show that as of September, 97 per cent of the target set by the DfE had been achieved. This is despite a 6 per cent fall year-on-year in the number of postgraduate trainees recruited - down from 9,705.
Today’s figures are not final and could change ahead of DfE publications in December.
A DfE spokesperson said the government is committed “to resetting the relationship with the education workforce and working alongside them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession”. They added: “Work has already begun to recruit 6,500 new teachers with the expansion of our flagship teacher recruitment campaign.”
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