Teacher Recruitment Falls By A Third - Cut Workload, Not Funding

‘Tom Donnelly’ National Education Union rep, Yorkshire

Teachers throughout the country reacted with shock to the news that the number applying to train as teachers has dropped by 33%, according to Ucas figures. This is the fifth year the government has failed to meet its recruitment targets, and the largest drop for many years.

Pausing to look up, bleary eyed, from piles of marking, planning and data analysis, we scratched our heads.

Why wouldn’t a graduate want to train, adding thousands more to their student debt, to go into a profession where they are denigrated by management, worked into the ground for a low graduate wage, then bullied out of the job when they become too expensive?