One in five undergraduate trainee teachers did not gain qualified teacher status (QTS) last year, while the proportion of postgrads qualifying fell to a five-year low.
Department for Education figures for the 2021-22 academic show a higher proportion of trainees failing to qualify than during or before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The statistics cover trainees who were awarded, QTS, completed their course but did not qualify and those who left before their course ended.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of leaders’ union ASCL, said teacher shortages “are already at crisis point and it is concerning that the percentage of trainees awarded qualified teacher status has fallen”.
