Bursaries didn't solve the teacher shortage - figures reveal.
Figures released by the DfE today show that the teachers taken on in 2017 with bursaries are less likely to be teaching now.
The figures support industry suspicions at the time that yet another incentive aimed at increasing trainees, instead of tackling the retention crisis, was a mis-allocation of resources.
The government's full report on initial teacher training profiles for 2017-18 evidences the true shortcomings the current teacher training system success as a strategy to create a workable workforce for our schools moving forward.
It also finds that:
- There were in total (bursaried and unbursaried) 27,878 final year postgraduate trainee teachers in the 2017/18 academic year of which 25,490 (91%) gained Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
- Already nearly a fifth (19%) of 2017's NQTs were not teaching 16 months later
- The ones eligible for the (up to) £30,000 bursary were less likely to be teaching now (21%)
- Physics fared slightly worse with nearly 25% of the £30,000 bursary 2017 students not teaching 16 months later
- 92% of the bursaried students (10,089) completed the course to achieve QTS
- 49% of all classics trainees receiving £25,000 bursaries have now left
- SCITT comes out on top: A higher proportion of post grads on a school-led route (93%) were awarded QTS compared to those on a uni-led (HEI) route (90%)
Following a refreshed acknowledgement of values in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention strategy last year, the government will now focus on its other strategies to improve the levels of teaching talent in the education workforce, such as the promise to pay £2,000 retention bonuses for physics and maths teachers.
They have also pledged to increase salaries to £30,000 by 2023, should all political factors go in their favour, of course.
Content originally published on Eteach.