Education CommitteeFurther written evidence submitted by Association of Teachers and Lecturers

1. ATL is extremely concerned that the Government’s policy to reform teacher training—to train more teachers in schools as opposed to at university—will result in an imminent shortage crisis if urgent action is not taken. Current indications are that this more market-based approach is increasing both volatility and uncertainty over the supply of teachers. The National Audit Office warning in March 2013, “that a quarter of a million extra school places would be needed in England by autumn 2014” (Mansell 2013; Wilford 2013). Projections for the next five years estimate that over 700,000 extra children will “enter primary level education in the maintained sector—with an additional 150,000 pupils expected to join secondary schools” (Wilford 2013). In response, the Shadow Education Minister Stephen Twigg stated “that an extra 15,000 teachers are needed by 2014–15 to meet this challenge” (Wilford 2013).

2. In July 2012, the DfE “announced a huge expansion of SD this September, increasing from 300 to more than 6,000 places, while university-led provision is set to fall 7% this September, from 28,000 to 26,000 places” (Mansell 2013). This has had a drastic impact on certain subjects, as figures published in November 2012 show: “the number of university courses funded to train secondary English teachers, was halved, from 54 to 28. Nine university history teaching courses and 11 for geography, lost their funding” (Mansell 2013). ATL believes the SD system lacks the efficacy required to match the acute demand for trained teachers with adequate supply, however. “Teacher Training Places in England: September 2013” shows that vacancies remain for all subjects and are especially high for key subjects. For example, in June 2013, on the training route, only 27% of maths vacancies were filled, 28% for chemistry and 15% for physics. This compares to 29% for maths, 25% for chemistry and 15% for physics on the salaried route. Physical education recruited the most for the training route, at 66%, while art recruited the most for the salaried route, at 75% (Howson 2013; Lepkowska 2013).

3. In June 2013, Professor John Howson demonstrated that the problem is one of a lack of acceptances onto SD courses rather than a shortage of applications. His statistics show that “around 20,000 applicants had made more than 64,000 applications to become a teacher through the new SD route”; but only between 2% and 9% “of applicants appear to have been offered places so far. This is a much lower proportion than for the courses offered by universities through GTTR” (Howson 2013). For example, on the SD Salaried route, 11% of places for chemistry were filled by Easter, which represents “just 4% of applicants being offered places. By comparison on the GTTR courses 46% of the applicants had been offered a place” (Howson 2013).

4. In addition there has been a steep decline in the number of students applying to undertake postgraduate courses. Statistics published by HESA in 2013 show that there has been a 3% fall in the number of all students (both UK and non-UK) applying to all modes (both part and full-time) of postgraduate study in 2011–12. Part-time courses have suffered in particular: a 7% fall for UK students, a 4% fall for other EU students and a 10% fall for non-EU students (All student enrolments on HE courses by level of study, mode of study and domicile 2007–08 to 2011–12, 2013). GTTR data show that applications for all courses in the GTTR scheme for England, Scotland and Wales in 2012 fell by 10% on the previous year, down from 61,900 to 55,502 (2012 Annual Statistical Report). DfE statistics for AY2011/12 show that English and drama only met 79.5% of its recruitment target, while maths, a shortage subject, fared slightly better at 85.8% (Initial Teacher Training Places by Subject, 1990–91 to 2012–13; Recruitment to Mainstream Initial Teacher Training Courses, 1990–91 to 2011–12).

5. The effect of this fall in numbers of graduates applying to undertake teacher training course is now being felt across British schools. In June 2013 Recruitment agency, Randstad Education, stated that “there were on average 41,000 temporary teachers working in British schools each week, compared to 37,200 in the same period in 2012”. “The biggest increases were found in secondary schools, which relied on 17% more supply teachers than last year” (Marsden 2013).

6. ATL is extremely concerned that teacher training reform will result in lower professional standards for teachers, and ultimately lower educational outcomes for children. For example, the Chief Inspector’s 2009–10 Report on initial teacher training states as its first key finding: “there was more outstanding initial teacher education delivered by higher education-led partnerships than by school-centred initial teacher training partnerships and employment-based routes” (Hodgson 2013: 2). The reform has been severely criticised by head teachers “who are concerned about poor quality applicants and ‘cumbersome’ bureaucracy” of the SD programme; and “ASCL has reported significant regional variations in the quality of applicants” (Maddern 2013). We believe that the large number of unsuitable applicants applying to SD is a direct consequence of the erosion of the important quality assurance role that universities currently exercise before applicants are accepted onto a PGCE course.

7. In 2012, the National Association for the Teaching of English surveyed members to gather views “of the likely effect of these changes on the training of English teachers” across the education sector. 730 individuals completed the survey by the end of April 2013. The key findings were:

(a)“Only 19.5% of respondents believe that a school will possess adequate intellectual resources relating to subject knowledge. Even fewer (10.8%) believe that a school will possess adequate intellectual resources relating to education. Less than one-fifth (17.8%) think that a school will be able to provide teachers qualified to act as tutors to trainee teachers. Just over a third (36.1%) of respondents believe that a school will be able to provide teachers qualified to act as mentors. Only 2.6% of respondents believe that a school will have time to carry out these new responsibilities” (Hodgson 2013: 4).

(b)“University-based training provides not only subject knowledge but also an understanding of the purposes of education that, according to 82.7% of the respondents, will be reduced by a move to a school-based system. A NQT said: ‘Underpinning any good practitioner is an understanding of pedagogy, psychology, behaviour, and of course subject knowledge. [This] is a burden that simply should not be put on schools’” (Hodgson 2013: 6).

(c)“A summative question asks whether respondents believe that the quality of teacher education in England will overall become better or worse. 91.5% of respondents believe that teacher education will be worse—of whom more than half think that it will be much worse” (Hodgson 2013: 9).

(d)“John Hodgson, NATE research officer and the study’s author, said: ‘Many of the respondents have written passionately of their shock and dismay that professional teacher education and training in England is to be dismantled overnight.’ He added that in academically successful countries, such as Finland, teachers are required to have a Master’s degree” (Lepkowska 2013).

8. A large majority of respondents thought the situation would deteriorate when asked about employment issues. One student teacher asked, “how can schools ensure that the quality of training is equal in all institutions”? A university lecturer states, “on the difficulty of regulating training provision in the new circumstances, ‘The lack of [the kinds of] national guidance that we have had with previous standards means there is scope for variation across the whole of the UK’” (Hodgson 2013: 8–9).

9. ATL is also apprehensive that there is a mismatch between trainees’ expectations and what schools can realistically deliver. The DfE’s website tells potential applicants that “your school...will have a job in mind just for you” yet leaders in SD schools are clear that “there’s no guarantee of a job for School Direct trainees” (Terry 2013).

July 2013