Britain’s Teacher Training Course Has Recruited Record Numbers Exceeding Government Target
New yearly figures published today confirm that, for the first time ever, the number of people recruited onto teacher training courses has exceeded Government targets, ensuring that a healthy supply of well-trained teachers is entering our classrooms.
Targets are set according to the predicted need for new teachers. The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has revealed that, this year, those targets have been met or exceeded in every main phase and subject area, helping to deliver the best possible education for our children.
In secondary school subjects such as Maths and Science, where historically it has been challenging to attract sufficient numbers of trainees, the recruitment targets set by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have been exceeded. For the first time ever, the target for the number of Maths teachers has been comfortably beaten. The number of new trainee Maths teachers has reached 2, 897 in 2009/10, exceeding the target of 2,685 by eight per cent.
Numbers studying science teaching have also been boosted, with 3,701 people signed up, beating the target of 3, 405 by as much as nine per cent.
Priority secondary subjects taken together are up 17 per cent overall.
The quality of the teaching workforce is improving too, with the percentage of people starting training with a 2:1 or better UK degree up by around five percentage points from 56 per cent to 61 per cent for primary school teaching and from 53 per cent to 58 per cent for secondary when compared with last year.
Graham Holley, Chief Executive of the TDA said:
“In meeting all of our Initial Teacher Training (ITT) targets in every subject area and phase for the first time ever, we have reached a significant milestone in teacher recruitment. This underlines the vital role we play in supporting the nation’s educational workforce. Considering that we have not met the challenging Maths target alone before, this is a monumental achievement.
“The recession has, of course, played a part in these excellent results. But we have been able to capitalise on the upsurge in interest in teaching only because of all the work we undertook beforehand and the swift targeted interventions that we made in London and throughout the country.
“Such high levels of interest in a career in teaching confirm that it is now the career of choice. We can now choose from the very best.”
School Minister Vernon Coaker said:
“Great teachers are the key to children’s success at school, so it’s encouraging to see that not only have the targets for trainee teachers been met, but that the quality of these recruits has risen too.
“Teaching has been transformed over the past decade to the number one choice for graduates. There’s never been a better time to become a teacher with record levels of pay, a huge improvement in educational standards and behaviour, and more support staff to help lift the burden of admin tasks so teachers can get on with what they do best – teach. All of which is reflected in today’s excellent figures.
“We expect some 2,900 maths teacher trainees, around 8 per cent more than the target we set. For science overall we expect some 3,700 – 9 per cent above target and for design and technology the figures are expected to be 25 per cent above the targets at 1,440. This is why we have provided TDA with an additional £22m to help fund this recruitment above target.”
Topics: Britain, career, DCSF, Department of Children, education, Initial Teacher Training, ITT, job, pay scale, Schools and Families, TDA, teacher training, teachers, teaching, Training and Development Agency for Schools
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