It comes after a report by the House of Commons Education Select Committee last week warned that the shortage of teachers was a “major challenge” for the education sector and said the government has so far been unable to address the problem.
The Department for Education (DfE) has missed its targets for recruitment to initial teacher education for the last five years and this year there has been a decrease in the total number of new entrants to postgraduate and undergraduate ITT courses. In fact, this year geography, biology and history were the only secondary subjects that exceeded their targets.
MPs on the committee warned that recruitment was particularly challenging in subjects such as computing, physics, design and technology, and maths.
The report states: “Recruitment in computing missed the target by the biggest margin of all English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, with only 68 per cent of ITT places filled.
“The proportion of the target for physics trainees recruited was 81 per cent, and for mathematics 84 per cent. Design and technology only reached 41 per cent of its recruitment target this year. This raises questions about the government’s recruitment strategy.”
The problems are set to be exacerbated, MPs add, because of the rising secondary school population, which is due to hit 3.04 million by 2020 and peak at 3.33 million by 2025.
A key finding of the MPs’ inquiry was that the DfE is not focusing enough on retention strategies. The report states: “The government should place greater emphasis on improving teacher retention. Not only is this a more cost-effective way to tackle some of the issues, but more teachers staying in the profession for longer would strengthen the pool of leadership positions.”
“Unmanageable workloads” are a “key driver” for teachers quitting the profession, the MPs conclude, and the report calls for action from both the DfE and Ofsted to encourage good practice and to “recognise that changes to the school system and accountability play an important part in increasing workload”.
The report also calls for more to be done by the DfE to implement the recommendations of the Workload Challenge, including options such as capping the number of hours teachers work outside of teaching time.
It adds: “Ofsted must do more to dispel any misunderstandings of its requirements and promote good practice by monitoring workload in its school inspections. Ofsted should introduce and publish details of how consistency between inspectors is evaluated.”
MPs also highlight a key role for CPD to improve teacher retention, calling for an entitlement for all teachers to access professional development, including subject-specific CPD. The report warns: “England has had a weaker commitment to CPD for teachers than many high-performing countries.”
Reacting to the report, the National Association of Head Teachers said that retention problems had been caused by a “punitive accountability system”, a real-terms fall in salaries of 11.5 per cent since 2010, and a lack of effective CPD because of funding pressures.
The Association of School and College Leaders also warned that the current funding crisis in education is driving problems with recruitment and retention. Interim general secretary Malcolm Trobe said: “The current education funding crisis is contributing significantly to workload pressures. Schools are having to cut the number of teaching and support staff, and this inevitably means more work for those who remain. Successive caps on teachers’ pay over several years have greatly devalued salaries in real terms and this issue also needs to be addressed. More investment in education should be a national priority.”
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers, meanwhile, said that with 48 per cent of teachers currently remaining in the profession for just 10 years, CPD and workload was key. General secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: “This report is clear that the government and Ofsted must review their policies which are increasing teacher workload. They must also look to move from vague words of support for CPD to something far more concrete – through a clear entitlement for teachers to CPD and targeted funding to ensure that they have the time and access to opportunities.”
Neil Carmichael MP, chair of the Education Select Committee, said: “Schools are facing significant teacher shortages as a result of the government consistently failing to meet recruitment targets. The government must now put in place a long-term plan to tackle the problems of recruiting and retaining teachers and address issues, such as teacher workload and access to professional development, which can drive teachers away from the classroom and into alternative careers.
“Holding fire on major policy changes and allowing a longer lead-in for government initiatives would allow schools time to focus on subject-specific CPD rather than being distracted by the demands of the latest Whitehall directive”.
The report, entitled Recruitment and Retention of Teachers, can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2mljNgO