New entrant figures for Initial Teacher Training

Missed targets in 2024/25 illustrate the depth of the recruitment crisis.

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Commenting on the new entrant figures for Initial Teacher Training in 2024/25, as published by the Department for Education today, Rosamund McNeil, Assistant General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: 

"This data illustrates the depth of the recruitment crisis. The DfE has missed its target for new postgraduate trainees by 31%, meaning it has missed targets in 10 of the last 12 years. We do not want to be telling this story for another decade. 

"Under-recruitment is most pronounced in shortage subjects, but the figures show serious problems exist across the profession. This year has seen the lowest number of primary trainees on recent record. We face targets missed in three quarters of secondary subjects – most of these by very wide margins. A majority of secondary trainees now receive either a bursary or a salary, and yet the overall secondary target was still missed by 38%. 

"Narrowly-targeted measures aren’t enough. The Government must act to ensure teaching can compete as a career and vocation for graduates. 

"Restoring professional status requires an urgent, major across-the-board correction to teacher pay, alongside ambitious strategies on workload. The Government must make recruiting and retaining staff its absolute priority, as it underscores everything else. Parents really do expect their child to be taught by subject specialists and school leaders can’t hold the system together without teachers, or experienced teachers to mentor new joiners." 

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