The Government’s efforts to boost teacher recruitment will be dissected by CEOs of teacher training course providers, as well as Teach First and the National Institute of Teaching.
2022 saw the highest number of teacher vacancies since 2010. There were 1,600 vacancies in November 2021 compared with 2,300 in November 2022. Only 59% of the target for recruiting trainees for Initial Teacher Training was achieved in 2022/23, down from 79% in 2021/22.
There are particular shortages of specialist science and maths teachers, leading some to question the Government’s proposal of making maths a compulsory subject up to age 18.
The witnesses (listed below) will be asked to comment on the Government’s 2019teacher recruitment and retention strategy. This included the Early Career Framework, a scheme that offers new teachers two years of structured training and support with access to mentors and funded time off their timetables, as well as a simpler “one stop” job application system. It also included financial incentives and outlined plans for new national professional qualifications (NPQs). MPs will be interested to hear how successful these measures have been and whether further improvements to workforce numbers are likely to follow.
