The number of teaching vacancies being posted by schools has reached a record annual high, according to new data published today.
TeachVac says it has recorded 100,000 adverts for teaching posts so far in 2022, far above the 60,000 figure recorded in a normal year.
Professor John Howson, chairman at TeachVac, said 2022 had brought “a huge growth in advertising for teaching posts by schools”.
“This is a combination of more teachers quitting, sometimes for teaching posts overseas; fewer new entrants from training; and a post-Covid catch-up to cope with increased pupil numbers.”
TeachVac is a national vacancy service, and it checks each vacancy to try to avoid duplication in its data.
Professor Howson said that unlike the NHS, “schools don’t have long-term vacancies as someone has to teach the children”.
“The alternative would be to send them home,” he added.
Teacher recruitment: vacancies on the increase
In November, more than half of the vacancies posted by primary schools were either maternity leave cover or temporary vacancies, whereas most secondary schools are still advertising permanent post vacancies.
Last month Tes revealed that leaders were warning that soaring teacher vacancies were having a “dire” and “severe” impact on schools.
Tes analysis has shown that the number of vacancies for teachers or leaders is up by 67 per cent in some subjects compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Computing, geography, music and chemistry are the worst-hit subjects, with vacancy levels for these subjects up by over 50 per cent in the autumn half-term this year, compared with the same period in the 2019-20 academic year, according to vacancies data collected by SchoolDash and analysed by Tes.
In September official government figures showed that the Department for Education had missed its target for secondary teacher trainee numbers by 40 per cent.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
“Teachers are the backbone of our education system. That’s why we proposed the highest pay awards in a generation for new teachers, and offer fully funded, high-quality professional development.
“Vacancy rates remain low at just 0.3 per cent with more than 465,000 teachers working in state-funded schools across the country.”
