Schools urged to keep teacher training placements to prevent recruitment bottleneck

At the same time, to avoid creating a bottleneck in the teacher recruitment pipeline, schools are being urged not to cut back on the number of training placements they offer.

Analysis this week shows that the number of accepted offers to primary and secondary initial teacher training (ITT) courses is 14 and 20 per cent higher respectively in 2020/21 compared to 2019/20.

Teacher training numbers usually increase at times of economic uncertainty and the latest data shows considerable regional variation, with the largest increases in the West Midlands, London and the North West.

At secondary level, the analysis estimates that the trainee influx will close the long-standing under-recruitment gaps in shortage secondary subjects such as maths, MFL and chemistry, although physics and design technology are expected to remain under-recruited.