Teacher recruitment targets ‘could be missed in a range of subjects’

Teacher recruitment targets are likely to be missed in a range of secondary school subjects this year, including English, according to a report.

In February 2022, the number of applications to initial teacher training was 23% lower than in February 2021, suggesting targets for 2022/23 in a range of subjects are unlikely to be met.

The report, from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), said that the resurgent labour market post-pandemic has led to the “Covid surge” in teacher recruitment subsiding and that there is a risk a large range of subjects will miss recruitment targets.

Physics, maths, computing, chemistry, design and technology and modern foreign languages are all at risk, subjects which typically find it harder to recruit.

But the report also finds that subjects that typically recruit well, such as English and art, may struggle to meet their targets too.

The paper notes that despite a recent boost to starting salaries, raising them to £30,000, teachers’ pay in real terms is lower than in 2010/11 levels by 7% to 9%.

Reducing London weighting for teachers based in the capital could also risk exacerbating shortages in the city, the report says.

Teachers continue to work longer hours than similar professions during term-time, which could contribute to the challenges, the report said.

A survey of senior leaders by the NFER in autumn 2021 also found that the biggest influence on whether they could take on trainees was their “concerns about the burden on school staff to provide support for trainees”.

It suggested this strain could be linked to more intense mentoring demands for schools as a result of the Early Career Framework (ECF) national rollout, which began in September 2021.

Data from the autumn survey of senior leaders also suggested that retention rates could be returning to pre-pandemic levels too, with around a fifth of primary leaders reporting that teacher turnover was higher than before the pandemic, although more secondary heads said that staff turnover was lower than before the pandemic.

NFER school workforce lead Jack Worth said both the financial attractiveness of teaching as well as other aspects needed to be improved to tackle the teacher supply challenges re-emerging after the pandemic.

He added that improving the competitiveness of teachers’ pay was important for both recruitment and retention, but that the Government’s proposed pay increases for the sector seemed “insufficient on their own” to address this.

Easing teacher workload and more support for trainees would also boost retention, Mr Worth said.

“However, our survey data shows that schools’ capacity for offering training placements remains squeezed, and senior leaders’ key concern is the burden on school staff to provide support for trainees,” he said.

Cheryl Lloyd, education programme head at the Nuffield Foundation, said: “More substantial interventions are needed to encourage applicants to initial teacher training courses including physics, maths and modern foreign languages.”

She added: “Addressing the ongoing shortfalls in teacher training applications should be a priority to ensure students can benefit from specialist teaching in these subjects and that schools across the country can offer a breadth of course options to their students.

“This report also highlights that recruitment challenges are becoming more widespread, with a reduction in applicant numbers for teacher training in subjects which have typically recruited well in the past, including English, geography and art.”

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “The report from NFER shows what an unmitigated mess Government is making of education.”

She added that “as predicted, teacher recruitment suffered as soon as the worst of the pandemic was over” and said that what was “even more worrying” was how subjects which had previously been less impacted by low recruitment were now seeing shortfalls in applicants.

“Low pay, unmanageable workload and an overbearing accountability system is rendering the teaching profession unattractive to many,” Dr Bousted said.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Teacher and school leader recruitment and retention has been severely damaged by more than a decade of eroded salaries, leaving the profession less attractive to graduates. Missed teacher recruitment targets this year are a direct consequence of that.

“Although the Government is moving towards a £30,000 starting salary for teachers, which is needed, they are doing that by imposing real-terms pay cuts on more experienced teachers and leaders. Graduates don’t just look at starting salaries – they want careers that are viable and rewarding long term.

“With over a quarter of primary and more than a third of secondary leaders quitting within five years of appointment, the Government just isn’t doing enough to convince them that teaching is the career to choose.”