Almost a quarter of newly-qualified teachers quit the profession within three years, schools minister Estelle Morris has revealed.
The number of people training to be teachers rose by 2,000 between 19992000 and 20001, but past trends suggest that only 1,500 of these will still be in post within three years.
Responding to a question from Tory MP John Hayes, Ms Morris said that in 19989, the latest year for which figures are avalable, 4,690 teachers left the classroom in their first three years. Of these, 2,110 were nursery and primary teachers and 2,580 taught in secondaries.
The proportion of new teachers leaving within three years has remained fairly constant at around 23 per cent over the past five years.
Ms Morris also pointed out that the total number of teachers leaving the profession fell from 35,100 in 19978 to 27,500 a year later.
