Number of graduates in teacher training in England at ‘catastrophic’ level - DfE figures

[sunnydaytoday0]

When is the government going to do something to address this, with more and more leaving and fewer and fewer wanting to enter teaching despite the governments attempts so far at making it "more attractive".

Will there be anyone left in our classrooms? Will parents be thinking of any of these issues and their implications during strikes?

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/dec/01/number-graduates-teacher-training-england-catastrophic-level

The number of graduates training to be teachers in England has slumped to “catastrophic” levels, with the government missing its own recruitment targets by more than 80% in key subjects such as physics.

The Department for Education’s initial teacher training figures show that just under 29,000 graduates have signed up this year, a 20% fall compared with 36,000 last year, and far below the 40,000 trainees registered during the pandemic in 2020-21.

But the figures are far worse for secondary school recruitment, where they are at just 59% of the DfE’s annual target, well below the 79% reached last year. It means the government has missed its own targets in nine of the past 10 years.

In Scotland the teacher situation is dire. And for the opposite reason! The universities are training thousands of teachers each year yet there are so few jobs being posted. Some councils have said that they are not giving out any permanent posts this school year. The amount of teachers on short term, temporary contracts is shocking. Supply work is non-existent in some areas. So many teachers train here and many don’t ever get jobs, it’s so sad. Our universities also give probationers a one year job when they graduate, guaranteed, meaning schools are full of trainees, lessening posts for those more experienced teachers. Our schools need more teachers, so many more teaching assistants (one in every class full time would be the dream!) and a decreased work load. I have a class for three days a week and it feels like full time with the amount I have to do. But I am so grateful I have a teaching job as I know so many would love to be in my position here.

Bursaries etc won't fix it.

Without wholesale reform of the education system and teacher salaries and workload the mass exodus wont be stopped.

I work in a cracking school, with lovely SLT and mostly nice kids. I've got nearly 20 years experience and I get results. I'm good at my job.

But I cannot do this for a other 20+ years. The recent death of a colleague has made me really question wtf I am doing working myself into the ground.

Great post. I'm sorry we lost you as a teacher.

Turning this around would be the equivalent of truning around a large ship, with all the force and time that takes.

What is driving me out:

• People being promoted to (sometimes senior) management after 1-2 years of teaching. Like, mate, you haven't even taught the entire syllabus, how can you tell me how to teach?
• People moving into management who, while perhaps being decent teachers, are poor people managers.
• The expectation to implement everything at lightning speed and expecting consequences of said lightning speed action at once. Implementation takes time.
• The magical phone call to parents (when?) that seemingly solves every issue, or so management believe.
• Expecting a bottom set to make above average progress (which my pay depends on) and being compared to a top set as if both students face the same issues
• Being judged on the behaviour of a bottom set with all of the behaviour issues and SEND issues thrown in together without help as if they should act like a top set.
• Covering lessons weekly, if not more often, while having my own needs to prepare lessons ignored.
• In my practical subject, being forced to do practicals with students who I know will cause danger to themselves and others, who cause dangers to themselves and others, and being expected to repeat the process.
• Not having a specialist room to do my subject in. I am not alone. Computer Science lessons often take place without a computer, while PE is often taught in classrooms.
• Parents who think "I don't think so" is an adequate reply to me saying their kid has a detention, without even knowing what for.
• Being held responsible for the attendance of students as a tutor, as if I can somehow drag them to school by making a phone call which is most likely ignored.
• Having to take abuse daily and having to accept abusive students back into my lesson without so much as an apology.
• Meetings which last an hour when an email would have sufficed.
• IT equipment which belongs to and should firmly have stayed in the 90s, which gives up regulary (inaccessible doors, laptops shutting down during lessons, whiteboards which flicker on and off at will etc.)
• Colleagues who don't do their jobs, but nothing happens, because I'm in a shortage subject, so I just end up doing double the work
• Being pulled up on any tiny mistake while not being given a single thank you for going the extra mile

I'm sure there are more. Many of these happened just today.

Teaching has traditionally been seen as family friendly. Not any more. So many jobs allow WFH full or part time. There are now a majority of jobs that work from home. Some WFH mothers on MN boast that they can combine looking after children with working at home. Why choose a job like teaching anymore? Pay for teaching isn't great and teaching has a culture of constant observation and inspection.
If you visit a hospital or any government office there will be signs about raising your voice or using aggressive language to staff members. Teachers are expected to put up with any amount of aggressive behaviour and teachers who complain will be accused of poor behaviour management. There are token attempts to offer teachers support. My school employed a reprographics assistant. She was allowed to work family friendly hours of 10 until 2 pm. She was never around before school when staff needed photocopying so she wasn't used. Her job was a waste of money. Huge numbers of Senior Management who hide in offices or carry out inspections but don't actually provide support for teachers in the classroom, further alienate teachers from the classroom.
My school saw huge numbers of admin staff to supposedly free up teacher time. There are always millions of reasons why these admin staff don't actually do any data entry but are skilled at wandering round in lesson time with a piece of paper in their hands. A member of the IT support staff told me that any teacher who complained immediately went to the bottom of the queue for any help with interactive white boards etc.
Teachers are bottom of the pile in schools. Get rid of unnecessary admin staff and teachers at the top who never go near a classroom and instead put all resources into the classroom and support the teachers who do the job.
Stop the government initiatives to employ more admin staff and instead put money into teaching

My husband has been part time (3 days) for a decade now. I think with the crazy level of planning/evaluation etc already well described in the thread part time working is a good solution. Of course you could say where would you find 2 teachers if you can't find one? Which is absolutely true ! But on 3 days each (with an overlapping Wednesday) the person can have a good quality of life which might allow people to stay when they would leave or even to rejoin the profession.

On 3 days I think the person would be working around the standard 37 hours with long days and some work at home but would be paid 0.6 salary I expect. We already know the hourly rate isn't so great if you take into account all the hours actually spent rather than the mythical 6 hours a day or so of a contract.

The other issue of course is teachers not being able to afford to live on 0.6 salary. I think whether a person can afford to earn lower to prioritise their work life balance depends massively on whether they are able to house themselves affordably. Lack of affordable housing underpins so many problems.

I don’t think parents do take teachers for granted.

Are you a non-teacher telling a teacher about their job?

My husband has been part time (3 days) for a decade now

Me too. Still doing 37 hour weeks but with crap pay and an appalling pension at the end of it!

Reading other people's thoughts upthread reminded me - I think all teaching experienced specialists in schools (E.g. the Head, deputies, assistant heads..... senco etc) should have to be contracted to teach at least one day a week so that they have to be able to practice what they preach - not invent more and more initiatives for other people with no impact on themselves.

I've probably just doubled the teacher shortage right there because if a lot of these people were told they had to teach one day a week (and do everything they ask of others) they would leave!

@CurlsandSwirls respect to me means what I get from the majority of parents I intereact with really:

• acknowledgement that learning only takes place if the child makes an effort, and not just 3 weeks before the exam. It's not a failing on my part if they refuse to engage with a well planned and delivered unit of work
• healthy scepticism when told things by their child like "I was given a detention for blinking"
• not expecting the school day to revolve around their child, seating plans to be immediately amended due to every friendship fall-out and woe betide the teacher who missed the email etc
• supporting the school when they try to put rules in place such as no phones, or no vapes or bringing their own pens

Most parents by far are nice and normal but some are not, and those parents and children take up a lot of time.

Lack of school money is a massive issue. We have no money for cover so end up coming in even when we are unwell. No support staff, no resources and quite often no PPA. No money for SENCO support so lots of children with high needs and no extra adults. I've also found it to be hugely incompatible with family life. I've missed my son's first day of school, first nativity play and first sport's day. I can't see myself leaving as I love the actual day job. I love being with my class and that makes it worth it but staff morale is at a huge low. Haven't had a pay rise in 5 years and get little thanks for going above and beyond.

There is an apprentiship route for qts, however, you do still need a degree, I do believe this is important in an academic profession. There are other routes into teaching than a university based pgce, school direct have a salaried option but you will need to have prior experience usually as a Hlta, unqualified instructor or cover supervisor, for those with a degree and 2 years experience they can do a 12 week assessment only Pathway for qts. Geography is currently a shortage subject so a good choice to access any bursaries available. Despite these routes numbers are down and there are not enough teachers in schools, staff morale is the lowest I have experienced in over 20 years. It is really worrying.

What does gratitude and support look like to you? It sounds like deference to me

listening to us, rather than telling us our jobs? Recognising that there is a crisis right now and that it affects your children? Not voting Tory? Supporting strikes? Not blaming teachers when your child behaves appallingly in school? Remembering school and childcare are not the same thing? Find out how many non-specialists are teaching maths/MFL/chemistry/physics in your child’s school and ask your MP about what they’re going to do about it? Ask your MP why recruitment targets are not being met and what do they intend to do about it? Support salary increases?

Parents represent a huge proportion of voters. Voters can change the direction of this crisis if they choose to.

It’s sad to see what’s happening to education.

After half term two of our ECTs quit.
A wonderful MFL teacher who has only been teaching for 2 years handed in her notice. We had three experienced teachers, our DSL and 2 members of SLT hand in their notice.

All of them are leaving teaching. Complete burn out.

I loved teaching, it was all I ever wanted to do and I was good at it, but I ended up leaving like many others because:

workload - lesson planning, book checks, constant scrutiny and being hauled over the coals if things weren’t good enough.

impossible performance management targets - I had my targets generated by English and Maths sats results, which were no measure of creative ability.

lack of funding for SEND , increasing needs in the classroom and often competing, the system letting everyone down,

lack of behaviour support, we were supported in school with a decent SLT, but trying to get help for some of these children who simply couldn’t cope in mainstream was impossible. Same goes for those that were struggling with mental health, CAMHS is broken.

Safeguarding and threshold for referrals. You see everyday children struggling, you refer but the thresholds are so high, by the time social services do intervene it’s often too late. (I don’t blame social services, they were just as over stretched.)

Lack of teachers, so bigger class sizes, less free periods, more cover, asking you to teach outside of your specialism which creates more work whilst you have to get up to speed with teaching something else. But then the issue of people being promoted too quickly or great teachers who aren’t great managers, but don’t get any managerial training.

I had to leave to protect my mental health, I was good at teaching and at the pastoral bit so ended up with a tutor group with lots of needs and extra bits thrown at me. I was fed up of being so tired at the end of term that I spent the first few days of every holiday asleep. I now have a job, where I’m trusted, I can work flexibly, I’m not made to meet ridiculous deadlines. I absolutely love teaching and would return but not under current conditions, I was replaceable as a teacher even if it was by a selection of supplies, I’m not replaceable at home.

I teach in a “bog standard” comprehensive and am considered an excellent teacher. I have 34 years experience and I mentor other teachers. The pay is not worth the stress, regardless of the holidays. Behaviour is dire and takes more energy to manage than most people have. My soul dies a little every day ! An INSET day feels like a day off! No way can anyone expect to last 30 years in this job now. So many rude students and parents. Some lovely of course but no longer the majority. And the pension isn’t great anymore.

I don’t have a gcse in the subject I teach. Get brilliant results at gcse though.

The degree is to learn the subject. The PGCE to start learning to teach it.

It’s not the same as nursing. There’s no expectation at the end of that degree apprenticeship that they start being entirely responsible for teaching how to be a nurse.

Subject knowledge does matter for teaching. You do need to know something well before you can teach it to others. It’s dreadful that we really cannot provide teachers educated to degree level in some subjects in most schools.

Many primary teachers have degrees in a curriculum subject before their PGCE. Or a specialist BEd.

It will soon change with a recession. Half of my friends turned into teachers because we graduated during the peak of the last recession and there were hardly any graduate jobs available.

This is nothing new. Even in the nineties the retention rate for newly qualified teachers , especially in London and other urban centres, was appalling, the government has known about this and has done nothing to improve the situation. Not surprisingly the negativity about joining the profession has trickled down to teacher training.

what is needed

career progression that encourages personal professional development being rewarded in a structured and consistent manner. Good teachers should be rewarded for staying in the classroom, not made to move into management to support their families.

proper bursaries available to encourage new entrants

support in schools for children with SEN /challenging behaviours

Better early years intervention , including targeted and consistent pre school support for children via Childrens centres/SLT etc.

a thorough and frank re assessment of what Academies and Academy trusts are offering and if they are cost effective and learning effective.

a move back to local education authorities offering centralised specialised support to schools.

The government thought that covid would save teacher training and were wrong about that.

A recession might get some more trainees, but that doesn't mean they'll stay, and it doesn't mean recruitment the next year will be any better.

I’m afraid that there are a lot of teachers teaching subjects they have no more than an A-level for themself. Schools will regularly use other teachers to cover gaps in departments. I know because I was one and I have taught A-level in subjects I barely scraped a pass in myself.

proper bursaries available to encourage new entrants

Massive bursaries in maths/physics/computing that are more than they will earn as an NQT aren't doing that great a job.