Teach Secondary Issue 13.6

Time for action We hear what one teacher training provider is doing to tackle some of the most urgent issues behind the continuing teacher recruitment crisis T he challenges surrounding teacher recruitment and retention remain a frequent topic of debate across the profession. According to the DfE’s 2019 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (see bit.ly/ts136-ECT1 ), over 20% of new teachers leave within two years, and 33% within the first five. The DfE’s efforts at revamping its induction processes – which included re-accrediting initial teacher training providers, and introducing a new three-year Early Career Framework induction period – were still in their infancy when Rishi Sunak called the 2024 General Election. Yet as the National Foundation for Educational Research’s ‘Teacher Labour Market Annual Report’ points out, secondary ITT recruitment across 2023/24 saw the DfE reach only half of its targets, with leaving rates having returned to pre-pandemic levels (see bit.ly/ts136-ECT2 ). Cost of living Some oft-cited reasons for the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis include unruly behaviour, unmanageable (and growing) workloads, funding shortfalls and rising rates of SEND, with teachers new to the profession feeling ill-equipped to deal with the wide-ranging needs of the learners in their care. Despite some generous tax-free DfE bursaries for certain ‘shortage subjects’, all secondary subjects bar three under-recruited in 2023/24. Physics achieved just 17% of its target – despite boasting a £28,000 bursary – while business studies (with no attached bursary at all) achieving only 16% of the target set. As a school-centred initial teacher training provider located the heart of Milton Keynes, we’re seeking to tackle the crisis through a variety of initiatives (with the fact that 92% of our trainees remain in the profession beyond five years indicating that we’re having some success). Perhaps the most striking recruitment challenge we’re seeing is the lack of financial support. Amid the ongoing cost of living crisis it’s been increasingly difficult to recruit in PE, history and business, none of which offer any bursary incentives. We’re aware of many previous trainees specialising in these subjects who have had to hold down part-time jobs alongside their full-time ITT studies. At the same time, the 2024/25 recruitment cycle saw the English bursary slashed from £15,000 to £10,000 – which seems surprising, considering that English recruitment for 2023/24 was around a quarter below target. Consequently, we’ve gone fromhaving a strong cohort of English trainees in 2023/24 to being unable to recruit a single English trainee for this academic year. Expertise and training To combat this crisis, we’ve taken the decision to offer £3,000 bursaries ourselves for all non-bursary subjects throughout the 2025/26 recruitment cycle. This will provide “Many trainees havehad tohold downpart-time jobs alongside their full-time ITTstudies” teachwire.net/secondary 38