Commenting on changes to the calendar of teaching apprenticeships, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Bringing the post-graduate teaching apprenticeship calendar in line with all other teacher training programmes is a welcome move and an act of common sense. It is extremely challenging for schools to support trainees properly in the current funding environment. Clearly, if the deep problems in teacher retention are not solved then there will be fewer experienced teachers to support the new entrants. The government needs a plan not just for recruitment but retention also, and one that properly addresses the real-terms funding shortfall that schools have endured for far too long.
"There are fundamental issues affecting the sector as a whole: pay that is too low, workload that is too high, and inadequate funding. Rachel Reeves is forcing 76 per cent of primary schools and 94 per cent of secondary schools to make cuts this year. Refusing to fund any pay award for 2025/26 simply won’t wash. It will only make matters worse.
"The NEU is clear that no effective solution to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is possible without a fully funded pay correction to reverse the huge pay cuts against inflation suffered by teachers since 2010.”