DfE data: Only HALF of required number of trainee secondary teachers in England recruited

[sunnydaytoday0]

Only half of the required number of trainee secondary school teachers in England have been recruited as the academic year gets under way, analysis shows. Ministers are on course to miss their recruitment targets by 48%.

The DfE said there were a record number of teachers in schools, up by 27,000 since 2010. The unions point out, however, that the number of pupils in state-funded schools in England has risen at almost double the rate of the teaching workforce.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/12/only-half-of-required-number-of-trainee-secondary-teachers-in-england-recruited

But hang on, those glossy soft-focus Get into Teaching adverts on TV show so many wonderfully happy and satisfied teachers, and classes fully of quiet, attentive students? And the government claims teachers are paid so well. Shouldn't training courses therefore be stuffed full of highly qualified graduates who want to do the job? I'm assuming teacher retention rates must be excellent at the moment that it explains why the government wouldn't need to be concerned about a huge crash in new bodies being recruited. Right?

Me. Also quite a few of my colleagues.
Not everyone can, or wishes to, retire early.

The grads don’t all get better jobs though, so they? They get jobs with no pensions and poor career structures. They are not doing better. Many could teach but it’s a profession that hates itself. It’s utterly negative in the media and few are reported as liking it. I’m not sure that’s true in loads of schools. Surely where high numbers of grads don’t go into grad work, there’s possibilities for recruitment? I rather think no one wants the challenging DC snd schools. This is what needs to change and better slts are needed.

@TizerorFizz You do know that teaching is a skilled profession, yes?

And that, as such, the ability to teach is not the same as having some subject knowledge?

Hence why, no, you can't just recruit from areas where people don't get other jobs 😒

So you think grads cannot be taught. They can.

I was a teacher and gave it up when I had children. I think it is the conditions that won't help the recruitment of young people. No WFH, no flexibility, horrid toilets, no gym, no long lunches, late evenings at short notice plus all the terrible scrutiny and judgment all the time.

few are reported as liking it

Not true. A lot teachers actually enjoy teaching, and would say that the best thing about the job is the kids.

The problem with the job is usually the rest of it.

No ability to WFH is a massive issue post-pandemic. If you look at the recruitment stats in the OP they have plummeted and it's thought that grads are now far more likely to be looking for jobs with some WFH.

Grad jobs that require you to go into work every day will, at some point, have to pay a premium for that.

Too true, @noblegiraffe . I like teaching and enjoy being in the classroom, delivering lessons, interacting with students. It's all the other nonsense that irritates, but I just tune it out really.

Anyone wanting to retire at 60 has been able to do so, so won’t still be teaching. Those of us in our 40s and below will still be plodding along till 67 or beyond.

@TizerorFizz I think a good graduate does not necessarily make a good teacher. In fact, I have seen time and time again that people who go into teaching because they couldn't get a job elsewhere don't last five minutes in the job.

The amount of skills needed take a long time to develop. Most people drop out now because they have so little training before they get thrown into the classroom that they just can't deal with it.

I did a 4-year, actual teaching degree with a specialist subject degree on top. NOT a 3-year undergrad with just 1 year of teacher training. Hell, some courses now only train graduates for a summer, some not at all and rely on all traning to be done by schools.

At university, 20% of people who started training in my year dropped out of our course after the first school placement, realising the job wasn't for them. A further 20% dropped out in the course of the 4 years.

These days, people don't even need experience in schools anymore before getting onto a teacher training program.

The grads don’t all get better jobs though, so they? They get jobs with no pensions and poor career structures. @TizerorFizz

Which says an awful lot - graduates actively avoiding a profession and instead doing a job with worse pension and career opportunities, because the conditions are so bad.

Some jobs you just can’t do at 67/68 and I suspect state secondary teaching is one of them; certainly not if you wish to live a long and healthy life after you retire …….

You want them to lie and say it’s all super!!??

I wouldn’t think teaching primary is much different, tbh. Teaching EYFS with all the bending over, sitting on (and getting up from!) small chairs and endless patience isn’t somebody I’d fancy still doing in 20 years’ time.

Just why do you think the graduates prefer other jobs to teaching then? Maybe because teaching is so hard and stressful with aggressive parents and pupils? With under funded and under staffed schools.
The profession doesn’t hate itself; parents, the government and the media all give the impression that they are the ones who hate teachers.
Schools need massive increase in funding. They need better conditions. They need support from parents. They need more schools for pupils with SEN. They need pupils who don’t assault teachers.

Incidentally, I’d like to know who is going to provide all the childcare that’s needed to help young parents pay their mortgages if we all have to keep working to 67/68? Whether or not you believe grandparents should help out with childcare, the fact is that many do. I look around at drop off and pick up and see an increasing number of grandparents doing the job.

Surely you make conditions better, not blame teachers for speaking out?

Exactly. I loved the actual teaching.

This.
I left in summer too. It's brutal

I could walk back into teaching (English secondary, shortage subject) and earn more than I do at the moment as a copywriter. I won't, because I value my physical and mental health. I used to call it the job that never ends, because it doesn't. There's always planning and marking to do, in the evenings, on the weekend, in those long 'holidays'.

I qualified as a teacher in a subject that had a shortage. I worked in two different schools. The challenging school was great. The school with the best exam results in the area had a decent percentage of absolutely feral children that had no regard for anyone else's feelings and made it impossible for others to learn, or for you to teach. The worst consequences was being removed from lessons, where you went into "isolation" and did sod all.

I left after two terms and thought, sod this. I retrained in another, totally unrealted subject and taught adults instead, where I don't get stuff thrown at me and get called a cunt by an 11 year old, before 9am. One student threatened to rape me, literally nothing happened to him, not even a talking to. Before this, I'd spent years working in Youth clubs and nothing prepared me for this.

I've taught adults now for 10 years and nothing could persuade me to go back into a school. It's like Lord of the Flies.

Teachers in their 60s now would be entitled to their pension so you won't see many. But teacher who aren't yet in their 60s are likely to have to work into them, yes.

Older teachers tend to be more expensive. Many of them find themselves 'managed' out by headteachers who want cheaper and younger teachers, as that helps with schools' budgets. It is far better to have some on the main pay scale as opposed to being on the upper pay scale

They don’t manage out decent teachers. As we can see, there are not enough replacements. This is total rubbish in this day and age. The schools offer part time for the teachers to stay. I know several who really enjoyed this.

People don’t want to teach because it’s described as “brutal” snd the holidays are spent planning and marking. Marking I would query but relatives who are teachers do take extended holidays in the summer. They have plenty of time at Christmas too seeing relatives. Maybe they just work smarter? Or work in schools where slt are higher calibre? I don’t recognise half of what’s said here.

If teachers look at other jobs they might find brutal hours too and worse pensions. Plus teachers talk down their job at every opportunity. It’s a totally negative position from many. Some people want to work with positive happy people. Therefore avoid teaching. It’s not money, it is working with complaining grumpy people. Who needs it? So it is a vicious circle. It gets worse because no one wants to join in.

😂🤣🧐