Unless you’ve been living in a teacher surplus bubble or burying your head firmly in the sand, you won’t have failed to notice that UK schools are in the grips of a major staffing crisis.
Despite a costly marketing campaign from the Department for Education, the government needs to go a long way to redress five years of missing trainee recruitment targets.
Although the general picture doesn’t look good, there are subjects that have been hit harder than others.
Below are the numbers behind the big shortage subjects.
Teacher numbers
940
the number of teaching vacancies currently unfilled
3,050
the number of teaching posts with temporary teachers in position
921
the number of extra trainee maths teachers needed to hit recruitment targets in 2018
872
the number of extra trainee design and technology teachers needed to hit recruitment targets in 2018
2,586
the total number of teachers qualified in another subject taking a maths subject knowledge enhanced course in 2016-17
1.8%
the percentage increase of returning physics teachers between 2011-15, the highest of all the subjects
3.3%
the percentage point increase of leaving physics teachers between 2011-2015, the second highest of all the subjects
644
the number of extra trainee physics teacher we needed to hit recruitment targets in 2018
7.6%
the percentage of PE teachers leaving the profession between 2011-15, the lowest of all the subjects
172
the number of surplus trainee PE teachers recruited in 2018
All data refers to schools in England and is taken from the DfE’s Analysis of teacher supply, retention and mobility and the House of Commons briefing paper Teacher recruitment and retention in England.
If you’re struggling to find the right staff, Tes has a range of recruitment options that can help. Visit our Recruitment Products page for details.
