The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has said the conclusion “flies in the face of the evidence” and the experiences of schools across England.
Last year, the MAC was tasked by the Department for Education (DfE) to undertake a review of the labour market for teachers in nursery, primary, SEN and secondary education.
The aim was to discover whether there was a shortage of teachers which it would be sensible to fill through non-European Economic Area (EEA) migration.
Currently, the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) as it is known, includes secondary school teachers of maths, physics and chemistry.
Inclusion on the SOL makes it easier for schools to recruit teachers from outside the EEA. For jobs on the SOL, employers do not have to pass the resident labour market test, and do not have to meet the £35,000 minimum salary required for permanent settlement.
The DfE, in its remit to the MAC, asked for it to focus particularly on whether Mandarin, computer science and design technology should be added to the list.
The review was welcomed by the education sector in light of the recruitment challenges being faced by schools. SecEd reported in November on the latest trainee teacher figures showing that the DfE has missed its overall ITT target for the fourth year running with only geography, biology, history and PE hitting subject targets.
Furthermore, DfE figures on the schools workforce in England from 2010 to 2015 show that 23 per cent of secondary schools reported a vacancy or temporarily filled post in November 2015 (up seven per cent on 2011).
However, in its report, published last week, the MAC concluded that “the evidence and data did not lead us to conclude that there was an occupation-wide shortage of teachers” across secondary, primary, nursery or SEN education.
Furthermore, while the MAC found that maths and physics at secondary level continued to meet the shortage criteria to be included on the SOL, there was not sufficient evidence of a shortage of chemistry teachers”. As such, the MAC recommends that chemistry be removed.
Mandarin and general science also met the shortage tests and are recommended for inclusion on the SOL, this also includes computer science. Foreign languages were also found to meet the test but inclusion on the SOL is not recommended as it would not be sensible to seek to fill these shortages from outside the EEA.
The report has also issued a warning that pay is a key factor in the recruitment difficulties for maths and physics teachers. This is because the earnings on offer for maths and physics graduates in other professions are “considerably above the likely earnings as a teacher”.
Chairman of the MAC, Professor Alan Manning, said: “There seems to be evidence for shortage among maths, physics, science, computer science and modern foreign languages. For Mandarin there is less evidence ... but we were persuaded that it is hard to recruit teachers in that subject because so few students have studied it in the past that there is only a small pool from which to recruit potential teachers. For maths, physics, science, computer science and Mandarin we concluded it is sensible to use non-EEA migrants to fill current shortages.”
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of ASCL, said he was “disappointed” with the MAC’s report.
He added: “Its conclusion flies in the face of the evidence which matters most and that is the experience of schools up and down the country which are dealing with a full-blown teacher recruitment crisis. School leaders are reporting severe difficulties in recruiting staff in many subjects and they are deeply concerned about the impact on their pupils.
“ASCL called for the shortage occupation list to be extended in order to make it easier for schools to recruit from outside the European Economic Area to help plug these shortfalls. It is a shame that schools will be denied this opportunity in many subjects. The government must develop a comprehensive strategy, working with the teaching profession, to address the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.”
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, echoed the view: “We are deeply disappointed by the MAC’s failure to recognise the growing teacher shortage crisis, despite compelling evidence. This crisis will get worse with the bulge in pupil numbers, make it hard for schools to find a teacher for every class, and risk the quality of education for children and young people in England.
“While overseas teachers are only one piece of the strategy to ensure we have enough teachers in our schools, we cannot afford to lose them.
“Excessive teacher workloads and salaries which are not keeping pace with inflation are the biggest contributors to the crisis in teacher numbers and will soon mean that shortages of teachers for maths and sciences are just the tip of the iceberg. The MAC’s failure to stop the loss of highly qualified overseas teachers may well be the straw to break the backs of our underfunded schools.”