News

Teacher degree apprenticeships will not solve recruitment crisis, school leaders warn

The “broken” teacher supply line means that it will take a long time for the government’s new teacher degree apprenticeships to have any impact on catastrophic recruitment levels.
Image: Adobe Stock

Secondary school leaders have welcomed the idea of the apprenticeships “in principle” but have urged the Department for Education (DfE) to also act to make teaching salaries more competitive.

Teacher degree apprenticeships are to be rolled-out this autumn and the DfE said this week that they would offer “a high-quality, alternative route for people to become qualified teachers”.

Ministers are particularly hopeful that the new route will appeal to some of the 400,000 teaching assistants working in England’s state schools, as well as to other school support staff.

The plans, which were unveiled by the DfE during National Apprenticeship Week, will see trainees spending 40% of their time studying for their degree with an accredited teacher training provider, but working in the classroom “from day one”.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here