Teacher training places unfilled

Half of the places on the School Direct training scheme remain unfilled
2 July 2013

Thousands of places on a new Government teacher training scheme remain unfilled, leaving schools facing a shortage of staff in key subjects such as maths and science, according to new research.

It suggests that the flagship School Direct programme is struggling to recruit, with almost half of places - about 5,000 in total - empty as of last week.

Under the scheme, primaries and secondaries can apply to recruit and train their own teachers as part of a major move aimed at taking teacher training out of universities and into schools.

There are two different pathways, one for top new graduates and another salaried route for individuals who have at least three years work experience and want to change career. The Government has said that around 10,000 training places will be available through School Direct from this September.

But new research by Professor John Howson, of dataforeducation.info, indicates that there are shortages, particularly in subjects such as physics, chemistry, maths and computer science.

The study analysed data on a government teacher training website to predict how many places will remain empty for individual subjects.

The findings suggest that only around one in four of the places available for physics teachers on the new graduates route will be filled, along with 38% of those for computer science and 43% for maths.

On the salaried route - which allows individuals to be paid as they train - around 24% of RE places are likely to be filled, along with 28% for chemistry, and 40% for maths. Schools are finding it easier to recruit good trainees who want to teach subjects such as art, music and history as well as general primary teachers, the study suggests.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said that School Direct had been set up in response to schools asking for a greater role in recruiting would-be teachers, and that the programme was proving popular

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "While the system is working in places, a significant number of schools say they are having real issues recruiting suitable applicants. It's not entirely clear why. It could be that the information about School Direct has not filtered through to university graduates and most of them are going the traditional route of applying through university courses. Hopefully these are teething problems which can be sorted quickly, but the point is that no one knows for sure because there is no national overview of the situation."

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