• New official figures reveal that 6,430 places remain unfilled on teacher training routes this year and the Government has missed its own minimum target by 2000 trainee teachers – making this the second year in a row targets have been missed.

• The target for maths and Computer Science trainee teachers has been missed every year under David Cameron, despite being exceeded under Labour – since 2010 the number of ICT trainee teachers has fallen by 70%.

• The shortage is widely blamed on the Government’s flagship teacher training programme School Direct, which has only filled 68% of its allocated places.

Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, Tristram Hunt MP said:

“David Cameron is threatening standards by failing to provide enough trainee teachers. Alongside allowing unqualified teachers into our classrooms and his crisis in primary school places, children are facing rising class sizes and now fewer teachers. Providing enough good teachers and enough good school places is a basic responsibility for any government. Yet this Tory-led Government is failing on both counts.”

Ends

Editor’s notes:

Overall teacher trainee shortage

1. New official data shows that the Government has not filled 6,430 of the training places made available for routes into teaching this year

2013/14

Total places allocated to School Direct and Providers

38,900

Trainees recruited

32,470

Difference

6,430

% filled of allocated places

83%

* Government figures do not include Teach First
** These figures are current registrations and do not include estimates of in year starts
Sources: DfE, 26 November 2013, Initial teacher training: trainee number census - 2013 to 2014
DfE, September 2013 initial teacher training update, September 2013

2. In addition, the Government is currently missing 2000 trainees from its own minimum target of required number of trainee teachers this year.

2013/14

Required number of places

34,470

Trainees recruited

32,470

Difference

2,000

% Contribution to target

94%

* Government figures do not include Teach First
** These figures are current registrations and do not include estimates of in year starts
Source: DfE, 26 November 2013, Initial teacher training: trainee number census - 2013 to 2014

3. The Government claim that over-recruitment in previous years can protect against under-recruitment in one year.

“…over-recruitment in previous years gives some protection against under-recruitment in one year. We have over-recruited in some areas over the past few years.”
David Laws, 22 October 2013

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131022/halltext/131022h0002.htm

4. However, revised figures for the previous year also reveal that the target for trainee teachers was missed last year. This means that the Government has now missed their target for trainee teachers two years in a row.

5. Experts are warning of a ‘serious problem’ with teacher numbers. Professor Chris Husbands, Director of the Institute of Education, told the Education Select Committee that the system could only sustain a one-year hit:

“I think we already have a serious problem. Ten out of 13 secondary subject lines are failing to meet the allocations this year. A shortfall in mathematics and physics, I think, is a very serious problem. Biology has failed to recruit to its allocation, and that has not happened for several years. This is serious. As a system, you can take a one-year hit, but if we are in the same place next year, we are in a bad place.”
Professor Chris Husbands, 11 September 2013

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/EdC%2011%2009%2013%20(2).pdf


Maths and Computer Science trainee teacher shortages

1. For every year since 2010, the Government has failed to recruit the required number of maths trainee teachers. Across the last two years, the target has been missed by 555 maths trainee teachers. In the last 2 years under Labour, the target for maths teacher trainees was exceeded.

2. In Computer Science, the Government has missed its target of trainee teachers by 44% this year – this is 270 Computer Science trainees short of the required number. Revised figures show that last year the Government missed its ICT target by 40% – 315 trainee ICT teachers short of its target.

 
3. From September next year, children as young as five will be taught how to write and develop their own computer programs as well as learn how to store and retrieve data. However, for every year since 2010, the Government has failed to recruit the required number of ICT and Computer Science trainee teachers. This target was exceeded under Labour.

DfE, National curriculum in England: computing programmes of study, 11 September 2013

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study

4. The Government has allowed targets in PE, history and English to be exceeded by up to 43%, leading to concern that teachers in these specialisms will be used to teach shortage subjects such as maths and Computer Science.

Failure of School Direct

1. The Government’s flagship teacher training programme, School Direct, is failing to deliver the required number of trainee teachers. School Direct has only filled 68% of places allocated to the programme, compared to 99% of places filled on university-based routes.

“…the new figures show School Direct recruited just 68% of its allocation of 9,586 - representing 20% of the whole pool of teacher trainees in England - rather than its 25% allocation.
Whereas universities filled all but 255 of the 26,785 training places they were allocated.”
BBC News, 27 November 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25104936

2. Despite unfilled places on School Direct this year, the Government are planning on increasing the allocation of School Direct places for trainees required in 2014/15.

DfE, Initial teacher training allocations 2014/15, 21 November 2013

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/i/itt%20allocations%20management%20information%2021%20nov%202013%20-%20fixed.pdf

3. Experts are warning that universities had to step in at the last minute to ‘paper over the cracks’ created by School Direct. Sir David Bell, former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education and now vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, warned of the risk of more School Direct shortages next year:

“The cracks have been papered over thanks to universities stepping in at the last minute to take on unfilled places.
We’ve got to ask some serious questions about schools’ capacity to take on even more trainees next year, when they fell short this year.”
Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of the University of Reading

BBC News, 27 November 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25104936