The government has missed its target for secondary teacher trainee numbers by 40 per cent, data released today suggests.

And the number of secondary trainees accepted onto courses starting this month is 23 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. 

Some subjects are up to 55 per cent behind target, with particular problems in physics and computing.

In April, the Department for Education said it expected 20,945 secondary trainees and 11,655 primary trainees to be starting their postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) this September.

Today’s figures from the DfE show that 12,490 ITT trainees have been placed on secondary courses this month - 40.4 per cent below the DfE’s target.

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However, the number of primary trainees has slightly exceeded the DfE target, with 11,939 placed on courses.

The target does not include trainees from Teach First, which will not release its data until the autumn.

Overall - including further education - 24,952 ITT trainees have been placed on courses, 18 per cent fewer than in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Looking just at primary and secondary trainee figures this year, the number placed on courses starting this September is 24,429 - 25 per cent short of the 32,600 trainee target set by the DfE in April.

The figures follow warnings from respected experts such as Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research, who said in July that “nothing” was “going to come along this year and save us from missing the recruitment targets”.

Professor John Howson, a long-time commentator on teacher supply and chair of TeachVac, said the figures were a ”very poor set of results after DfE’s first year controlling applications from graduates wanting to be teachers”.

Applications were previously handled by Ucas.

Professor Howson added: “The message is that young graduates are no longer as interested in teaching as a career as they once were.”

The shortfall of trainees this year is feared to exacerbate the severe recruitment struggles that schools already face.

Subjects facing particular shortfalls, according to today’s figures, are computing (55 per cent below target), physics (40 per cent below), English (19 per cent below) and biology (19 per cent below).

However, Physical Education has highly exceeded the 980-trainee target, with 1,521 placed on courses. 

The DfE has been contacted for comment.