Shortage of teachers after training reforms

Jo Faragher

A leading education think tank has warned that the UK could face a major shortfall of teachers by the end of next year after changes to the way they are trained.

Million+, in its evidence to the Education Select Committee on teacher training, suggests that the system for planning teacher training in England has “broken down”.

It says that, under the Department for Education’s new School Direct programme, 9,000 teacher training places were transferred from universities to schools in 2012-13, with the expectation that schools would recruit trainee teachers to start training this September. The aim was for schools to have more control over recruitment and training.

However, at the end of the summer term, it is estimated that just under half of these places (45%) were unfilled, with many specialist subject places vacant.

Pam Tatlow, chief executive of million+, said: “School Direct was introduced without any robust assessment of its impact on teacher supply. Ministers say that schools should lead the commissioning of teacher training but it is clear that this will not guarantee the number of trained teachers that will be needed by schools across the country in the future.”

The think tank predicts that, by the end of next year, 3,000 fewer teachers are likely to have been trained, risking a crisis in teacher recruitment at the very time that the school population is rising.

She added: “MPs should be very concerned that well-regarded higher education providers will pull the plug on teacher training altogether because of the uncertainty that has been created.

 Rather than expand the programme, School Direct numbers should be reduced in 2014-15 and a national strategy agreed to bring some stability and common-sense back into the system.”

The Government has hit back at criticism for the programme, claiming School Direct was “a response to what schools told us they wanted, a greater role in selecting and recruiting trainees with potential to be outstanding teachers”. It claims that by May this year, around 22,500 people had applied for places on the scheme.