Workload to blame as figures show crisis in teacher recruitment

Teacher training applications dropped by a third in a year due to high workloads and stress, a report has revealed.

In December 2017, 12,820 people applied for post graduate routes into teaching compared to 19,330 the previous year, The Times reported.

Last year was the fifth in a row that saw the government miss its teacher-recruitment targets despite efforts to encourage applications.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, described the lack of new teachers as a “serious and urgent issue”.

He blamed the drop in applicants on the “swirling negative perceptions of the job” which are caused by “high workload” and the accountability on teachers to jump through “unrealistic hoops” to meet government standards.

Mr Barton said that the change in curriculum in recent years has led to many teachers forgetting “the joy of teaching” as they are focused on learning new content.

Despite the benefits that come with the job, such as longer holidays, one in five teachers report working more than 60 hours a week.

All age groups, including graduates, career switchers and older applicants were covered in the report published by Ucas which showed a decline in subject applications across the board.

Design and Technology is the worst hit with the number of applicants falling by 67 per cent in the past year.

Core subjects such as English and Science also saw a decline in the number of people wanting to teach them with applicants dropping by 25 and 23 per cent respectively.

Teacher-training programmes among those included in the report were School Direct and Scitt, where schools recruit trainees with specific jobs in mind. Other undergraduate training degree programmes were also covered, however figures for Teach First, the biggest graduate recruiter, were not included in the report.

The Department of Education noted that the applications for teacher training had opened a week earlier in 2017 than the previous year and said that it would be “misleading to draw parallels" between the figures.

A spokesman said: “There are now a record number of teachers in our schools – 15,500 more than in 2010 – and the fact that more than 32,000 new trainee teachers have recently been recruited in a competitive labour market, with historic low unemployment rates and a growing economy, shows that the profession continues to be an attractive career.”