In early 2016 it was reported by the National Audit Office that the teacher recruitment crisis in the UK was just as bad as we had feared. A Star Teachers sought to look in detail as to why this may be, and collated their findings in an infographic looking at the landscape of teaching in the UK.
The reasons for the teacher shortage are numerous. In response to claims of the shortage, the government has said repeatedly that there are more teachers in the profession than ever before. Which is true. There are more teachers than ever before. The fallshort, however, is that they fail to take into account the steady increase in pupils entering the system. If classes remain at their legal limit of 30 pupils then thousands more teachers will be required to ensure sufficient cover in the school system.
The burden that is bestowed upon young teachers is also greater than ever before, with government changes imposing higher targets, budget responsibilities, and goals that many young teachers regard as unattainable. It no longer seems that a teachers aim is to inspire and find a pupils best route to success, but instead to hit targets. It is this shift that has caused teaching morale to hit an all time low, with one study finding that between May 2010 and July 2015 teacher morale declined by 67%.
So, is there any good news?
If you are looking to enter the teaching profession, then yes. As you can see in the infographic below 84.1% of secondary school applicants and 88.4% of primary school applicants received an offer from the 1st school of preference. Nine out of ten newly qualified teachers are also finding employment within six months of completing their training.
Those new to the profession are finding success. The big problem is keeping them happy in the role and ensuring that more and more graduates are inspired to teach. Without them, the teaching crisis will continue leaving unprecedented numbers of pupils without the education they deserve.
Take a look at the infographic below to see all the findings from A Star Teachers:
