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Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Original poster

Teacher recruitment crisis or not?!

88 replies

rollonthesummer · 27/12/2015 11:53

link

I am sick of reading articles like this where independent studies have shown teaching is heading for a massive recruitment crisis, only for the last sentence of the article to be 'but a spokesman from the DFE says there has never been a better time to be a teacher. Recruitment is at an all time high'

They can't both be right?! Which is it?
I think the spokesperson should be named and evidence provided!

OP posts:
SisterViktorine · 27/12/2015 12:02

I think there is still no problem in getting people to sign up to ITT- this is what the government mean by 'recruitment'- bodies entering the profession at the bottom. 'Enough' people are still willing to apply to train so the DfE spin this to suggest there is no problem.

However, there is very clearly a retention crisis which still means there is a shortage of actual teachers and schools cannot get enough applicants, especially for jobs requiring experience.

Pinkshire85 · 27/12/2015 12:03

I would say the article I read in the guardian is more likely to be accurate rather than the DFE as my local training provider struggles to recruit trainees for key subjects and our school often has to do a couple rounds of adverts for posts, and we are a good school with a good rep. It is not in the interest of the DFE to highlight the problems of recruitment.

feelingdizzy · 27/12/2015 12:06

Where I live and teach in Scotland,there is a serious recruitment crisis,I can't think of a school that isn't short staffed.

yellowsun · 27/12/2015 12:09

We've certainly struggled to find quality teachers this year. Applications are down and teachers are leaving the profession.

Original poster
rollonthesummer · 27/12/2015 12:11

Where will it end?! Will it just be down to supply teachers? Or will the government scrap the need to be qualified at all (a la free schools)?!

OP posts:
BumpPower · 27/12/2015 12:14

Definitely retention issues. With increased workload in certain areas as well I think there is a big lack of take up in internal posts too. At my school they tried to appoint a series of middle leaders for each key stage with a small pay rise and the promise of an extra ppa slot a week - No one applied for any of the posts. No one felt they had any spare capacity, I hear this is very common.

DesertOrDessert · 27/12/2015 12:15

Id have read those as:
Recruitment crisis = not enough trained individuals to fill roles.
Recruitment at an all time high = everyone is leaving, so if you go and qualify, your likely to get a job as there are loads of vacancies.

So, in agreement with each other. Which have I read wrongly?

SisterViktorine · 27/12/2015 12:22

They have openly stated that they want all school to be academies and there is no requirement for academy staff to be qualified- so really that requirement is already gone. It's just a matter of time for it to roll through the system.

Original poster
rollonthesummer · 27/12/2015 12:48

Are academies having recruitment and retention difficulties?

OP posts:
WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 27/12/2015 13:08

Id like to be a teacher, ive got a degree, a higher diploma and a masters but they won't accept me for teacher training.....my qualifications are all in the wrong subjects.

Original poster
rollonthesummer · 27/12/2015 13:10

Do you mean you want to teach a different subject to the one you have qualifications in?

OP posts:
WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 27/12/2015 13:16

Kind of.....ive got a degree in criminology, a higher diploma in midwifery and I have now got a masters in midwifery.but don't think I had that when I applied. The midwifery diploma is everything a degree is but no dissertation. If Id done the dissertation I could have topped up to a degree but I couldn't afford it.

I was hoping there would be enough biology content to do science but apparantly not.

My sister is a teacher (science) and said I might also struggle with having to teach physics/chemistry. I think I could apply to do sociology but there's no sociology teacher training course near me, plus sister said there's not that many jobs. She said I ought to apply for primary but I don't like small kids that much. Grin. Art and nativity plays, etc would bore me to tears.

Ive got experience of teaching 16-18 year olds as I used to teach a GCSE equivalent qualification for pregnant teens.

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 27/12/2015 13:18

I'd quite like to be a history teacher but don't even have an a-level in history. Maybe I ought to do a history degree, if it wasn't for the 9k fees I'd be tempted to leave work and do that! Can't afford to.

thelaundryfairy · 27/12/2015 13:28

I have an English degree and am an English teacher, but owing to staff shortages I´ve got to teach GEOGRAPHY from next month as well. I´ve never even studied Geography as I went to school abroad up until the end of Year 10 and it´s not really a subject there. Then I took GCSE and A Level in England but didn´t choose Geography (as I have zero interest in it). I am really scared and also think the students are getting a raw deal here. I´m spending the holiday reading up but I doubt I will be able to answer all of their questions. It´s depressing to think about.

Original poster
rollonthesummer · 27/12/2015 13:44

This situation is crap for teachers and crap for children-- nobody is winning here!

OP posts:
WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 27/12/2015 14:33

laundryFairy. My sister was told she had to teach maths. She handed her notice in and is no longer teaching.

ravenAK · 27/12/2015 14:49

My experience, before I buggered off, was that we were struggling for core subjects - maths & English gaps were being taught by any warm body with a light timetable.

They still haven't filled my job (English).

Also, over the last few years the staffroom was filling up with 20 somethings doing teaching as a starter job. Decent holidays, looks good on a mortgage application, get out by 30...

neveronaschoolnight · 27/12/2015 15:32

I've been on MN for years but never post on the staffroom so I've NC so I can respond to this.

For anyone working in a school I think the teacher shortages are very apparent.

We're a large Secondary Academy, we find it difficult to recruit English, Maths, Physics and Chemistry.
Lots of KS 3 lessons are taught by non-specialist staff.

I'm always astounded that the government can spin the truth to say there isn't a shortage!

I think that there is a shortage of language teachers too but this hasn't affected us yet, there are plenty of PE and Art teachers too many to all be guaranteed jobs in our area.

As PPs said, lots of NQTs don't last and plenty just see it as a first career, many of them can't believe how tough it is.

I've been a teacher 10 years and I'm looking at ways to leave.

MidniteScribbler · 28/12/2015 06:02

I'm in Australia and we are being constantly hounded to move to the UK by various UK recruitment firms, even down to them stalking us in the staff carpark at school. Sadly for them, we all know how crap it is for you poor teachers in the UK so no one is biting, no matter what incentives they offer (laptops, free flights, mobile phones, rent, etc). It's a shame, I'd actually love to move to the UK, at least for a number of years, to work, but the stories I hear about the conditions there mean that I'm staying put where I get treated like an adult and a professional in my work.

crazycatguy · 28/12/2015 06:51

I teach in a school people would want to work at. Recently we advertised for a subject that traditionally had surplus teachers. After three attempts, we hired someone from overseas.

I know people who teach primary who can leave one job one week and know they'll work the week after elsewhere.

All pretty rubbish. This will likely only get worse with the forecast increase of children in the population.

MrsUltra · 28/12/2015 14:35

stalking us in the staff carpark at school Shock

Original poster
rollonthesummer · 28/12/2015 14:56

For the last three people we've hired- the interview was done by Skype to Australia. It was basically a grovelling exercise (pleeeeease come to our school, can you start tomorrow, it's fab!). All three handed their notice in at the first opportunity!

OP posts:
mercifulTehlu · 28/12/2015 15:40

"Recruitment is at an all-time high" is code for "Gazillions of experienced teachers are leaving the profession in disgust, but it's all fine - we are somehow still managing to inveigle shedloads of cannon fodder young trainees and foreigners into British schools. We'll flog them until they quit with nervous breakdowns a year or two later, then find some more to replace them".