Teacher shortages in computing, Mandarin and science revealed

The Migration Advisory Committee has added computer science, Mandarin and general science to the government’s official occupation shortage list

The occupation shortage list comprises jobs where there are not enough resident workers to fill vacancies, and therefore permitting easier recruitment of staff from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), with fewer restrictions.

The analyses revealed that while there are shortages in some subjects, there is no occupation-wide shortage of teachers.

Maths and physic teachers are already on the list, but the new analysis recommended chemistry teachers are removed from the list.

Professor Alan Manning, the committee chair, said: “We used a rigorous methodological approach to assess whether to recommend teachers for inclusion on the shortage occupation list.

“We considered whether there were identified shortages of teachers and, if so, whether it would be sensible to recruit migrants from outside Europe to fill these roles.

“The resulting report shows there is no occupation-wide shortage of teachers, but that there are shortages in some subjects.”

Modern foreign languages was also found to be in shortage, but the committee said it was “not sensible” to fill shortages from teachers outside of Europe.

Those subjects not on list can recruit from outside the EEA, but have to meet requirements set out in the resident labour market test.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is an independent and non-departmental public body that advises the government on migration issues, sponsored by the Home Office.