Teachers of core English Baccalaureate subjects are leaving the profession faster than those in any other subject, according to new research.

This could make it difficult for the government to achieve its aim of entering 90 per cent of all pupils to sit GCSEs in these subjects, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Academics at NFER analysed data from the school workforce census. They found that turnover rates were highest for teachers of core subjects: science, maths and English.

‘Storing up problems’

The rates of teachers leaving the profession were highest in the first few years after qualifying to teach, for primary and secondary teachers. Early-career teachers of science, maths and languages are particularly likely to leave the profession.

The number of trainees in these subjects has also been consistently below the government’s entry targets for the past four years.

The research states: “These factors have made finding suitable staff in these subjects increasingly difficult for secondary schools, and may store up problems for future teacher supply.”

Science and maths teachers also had the highest rates for moving school, though this was only marginally higher than for English, languages and technology teachers.

‘Significant challenge’

“The high rate of core-subject teachers moving between schools may indicate shortages in these subjects: in a seller’s market, teachers can shop around for a preferred school, pay uplift or more senior position,” the research states.

“However, it may also reflect a greater opportunity to move school because all schools teach these subjects.”

The analysis also found that the amount of curriculum time spent on science and languages has not increased since 2011. Curriculum time for technology subjects - which do not form part of the EBacc - has fallen dramatically since 2011.

Non-EBacc subjects have all seen reductions in teaching hours since 2011.

Jack Worth, the author of the report, said: “Teacher supply remains a significant challenge for schools generally. It seems evident that this is constraining schools’ ability to increase teaching time of EBacc subjects, especially science and languages.”

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