Complicated routes causing teacher shortages

There are currently five different routes into teaching, which Lightman believes contributes to a proportion of potential teachers taking teaching assistant jobs instead. Under the Conservative government, programmes such as School Direct and Troops to Teachers were introduced, while the Teach First programme, which fast tracks highly qualified graduates into schools, was expanded. Additionally, many aspiring teachers entered the profession through the traditional post-graduate route or the School-Centred Initial Teachers Training.

Lightman understood the importance of each routes credentials and the efforts to progress the teaching profession. He said: "We recognise the value of having a variety of routes into teaching. We don't want to turn the clock back. Different people are suited to different approaches.

However, Lightman continued: “But it is an issue at the moment that people have found it very confusing to understand how to go about getting into teaching and it has not always been obvious to them where they should look for objective advice about all the different routes. This confusion has deterred people at a time when there are significant recruitment problems.”

In December last year, Ofsted reported that the number of new teachers had dropped by 16 per cent over the last five years, with 8,000 fewer trainees in secondary schools alone. The Department for Education issued statistics last year showing the primary school training courses had missed its target for a third shortfall in a row - only achieving 93 per cent of its target.

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