Peter Williams: How to fix the trainee teacher shortage

What a surprise. Teaching is not an attractive career for school leavers or graduates. The number of students training to be in charge of your child’s education has dropped from 21,205 to 18,490 in the last decade.

At the same time the immigration-led population increase means we’ll have our highest ever school roll next year - close to 850,000 students.

The teaching profession straying from university capture

In the 2024 budget, substantial funding was announced to move teacher education towards an in-school, apprenticeship-style model. The injection of funding is intended to address the shortage of teachers currently facing our schools. The shortage is predicted to worsen, particularly at secondary level. It is exacerbated by substantial attrition from the profession.