Parents are likely to become increasingly worried their children will not be able to receive the support and teaching they need, after it was revealed that secondary schools are facing a trainee teacher shortage.

Schools Week reported that there will be 6,000 fewer secondary school trainees than required this year, falling short of recruitment targets for the ninth time in a decade.

Education secretary Kit Malthouse will, therefore, be under pressure to prioritise teacher shortages to ensure the education of young learners in the UK is not affected.

This comes after the publication revealed data that showed less than three-quarters of postgraduate initial teacher training secondary target will be met this year. This figure falls to just 40 per cent for computing, suggesting there is a massive shortfall in new computer teachers in British high schools.  

Professor John Howson, chair of the teacher vacancy website TeachVac, told the website: “Schools face a battle to recruit teachers during 2023 unless the recession encourages more to return to teaching.”

It is not just recruitment data that is concerning, but also staff retention figures. According to the Department for Education, the proportion of secondary heads that left within five years increased from 35 per cent in 2011-2016 to 37 per cent in 2015-2020. 

Ian Hartwright, senior policy adviser for the National Association of Head Teachers, which led the research, told The Guardian: “The data that we have received confirms our fears that leadership retention rates have declined even further since 2015.”

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