It would be a “bit rich” for ministers to pledge to boost teacher numbers following this year’s pay freeze, headteachers have warned.

On Saturday, Tes revealed that the government is understood to be planning to set a fresh goal for the number of teachers it will train before the end of this Parliament, as part of its post-Covid education recovery plan.

This target would take into account those who access initial teacher training (ITT), the new Early Career Framework (ECF), and the reformed National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), Tes was told.

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However, when asked about the plans, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said any pledge to bring in more teachers would seem a “bit rich” after this year’s pay freeze.

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“Inevitably, the government will think in terms of, ‘Right, let’s set ourselves a target for numbers of teachers,’” he said.

“But the starting point should be, ‘What do we expect our teachers to do?’ And if we expect our teachers to have a bit more time to actually learn some of those skills, that will ultimately save us some money because we will lose fewer teachers who currently leave us after five years or 10 years.

“All credit to them for saying they’re going to increase the number of teachers. That will seem a bit rich to a lot of people who have seen a pay freeze for teachers this year, where it will feel like there’s a rhetoric from the government, and a reality. Which I think won’t be solved by simply plucking a target out of thin air.”

He added that a teacher training plan drawing on ITT, the ECF and NPQs might feel like “emperor’s new clothes”.

“Inevitably, the Treasury will want to see how is that money going to be spent on doing something which is different and will have an impact,” he said.

“And I think we’ll be looking to Kevan [Sir Kevan Collins, the government’s education recovery commissioner] to help guide the profession to be able to demonstrate what those things are.

“But if what it ends up with is a number of rehashed announcements of things that already are in the system, I think there will be a huge sense of disappointment, of an opportunity missed.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in November that there would be a public sector pay freeze for 2021-22, apart from for doctors and nurses, and public sector workers on less than £24,000, who would receive a pay rise of at least £250.

Then in February the Department for Education confirmed its plans to “pause” pay rises for the vast majority of teachers.

This prompted “enormous anger” within the profession, with heads and teachers uniting to call for a “significant pay increase” and a “fairer pay structure to improve teacher retention”.