Recruitment and retention: Where have all the teachers gone?

According to official recruitment statistics, initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for the academic year 2015 to 2016 were good. Figures released for ITT courses suggest that, unlike at secondary level, recruitment for primary schools actually exceeded requirements with 116 per cent of their Teacher Supply Model target filled.

However, the teaching unions and an increasing number of primary schools still warn of a teacher supply crisis.“Recruitment is a very challenging problem for heads in primary at the moment,” explained Trudy Cotchin, headteacher at Longwick CE Combined School in Buckinghamshire. “I know of many headteacher colleagues who cannot find a permanent teacher and the quality of supply is very poor, not to mention the exuberant costs. There are simply not enough teachers to fill the vacancies that are advertised.”