APPLICATIONS for undergraduate teacher-training courses have slumped, despite Labour’s multi-million pound campaign to promote the profession.
By the end of June, there were 10,594 fewer applications for BEd courses being processed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, a fall of 14.5 per cent from the same date last year.
The reduction outweighed a rise of about 1,300 in the number of graduates who had applied for PGCE courses by end of last week.
Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the figures demonstrated the inadequacy of the Government’s pound;5,000 “golden hello” scheme for trainee maths, science and foreign language teachers.