New research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reveals that the Department for Education’s (DfE) proposals on teacher pay, combined with other financial incentives such as the ‘levelling up premium’, are unlikely to result in an adequate supply of teachers in England in 2022-2025, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
The study, commissioned by the Gatsby Foundation, suggests the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment target for maths may be met over the next four years – but is unlikely to be met in physics, chemistry, computing and across all three science subjects combined.
According to the research the attractiveness of teacher pay matters for ITT recruitment. The study estimates that a one per cent increase in the teaching starting salary – over and above the change in the outside-teaching graduate starting salary – is associated with a two per cent increase in applicants to ITT. This suggests an increase in pay could make a real impact in recruiting teachers, as well as retaining them.
