New research reveals the use of non-specialist teachers is more prevalent in schools facing teacher supply challenges, and that this is likely to have a detrimental impact on pupils’ education and learning.
The data, covering schools in England, shows that among secondary schools finding teacher recruitment the most difficult, 62 per cent reported at least ‘some’ maths lessons being taught by non-specialists, 55 per cent for physics and 26 per cent for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). This compares to 28 per cent for maths, 29 per cent for physics and 14 per cent for MFL in the schools that reported finding teacher recruitment the least difficult.
The study, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, examines national and local level trends in teacher recruitment and retention in England.
