Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Integrate pupil demographic trends into teacher recruitment targets and extend workforce model to FE.
Conclusion
We welcome the Department’s approach to setting postgraduate initial teacher training recruitment targets using the Teacher Workforce Model. However, changes need to be made if a more holistic picture of the demand for teachers across all subjects and phases of education is to be achieved. The Department should ensure that pupil demographic trends are included in analysis to ensure future demand is taken into full account when setting recruitment targets. We also recommend that the Teacher Workforce Model should be extended to cover the post-16 and further education phases, meaning the model estimates the number of qualified teachers required by state-funded primary and secondary schools (including nursery and post-16 provision within such schools), academies, free schools, post-16 providers and further education colleges in England. (Paragraph 28) Financial incentives for recruitment and retention
Government Response Summary
The government stated it already accounts for pupil demographic trends in its Teacher Workforce Model, which covers primary and secondary (including post-16 within schools), but clarified that further education is estimated separately and will continue to be due to differing factors.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department already accounts for pupil demographic trends when estimating future teacher demand. As stated in the annual postgraduate ITT targets publication2, the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM) estimates future school teacher demand from a starting teacher stock, as measured by the School Workforce Census, by considering projections of pupil numbers and by estimating the national pupil: teacher ratios needed to meet demand as pupil numbers change. Additionally, the TWM already estimates demand for all state-funded primary and secondary schools, including nursery and post-16 provision within such schools, academies, and free schools. The Department estimates demand for the further education (FE) workforce but does so separately to the TWM. We will continue to keep the schools and further education estimates separate due to the differing factors determining both the demand and supply of teachers. The TWM is focused upon schools and is largely underpinned by data from the annual School Workforce Census. The majority of the workforce covered by the TWM are qualified teachers, trained via initial teacher training, that deliver a curriculum which is focused upon GCSE and A-level subjects. By contrast, the Department’s Further Education estimate for FE demand considers a workforce suited to different learner requirements who study a broader range of qualifications, taught in different settings (FE colleges rather than schools), teaching a larger percentage of adult learners, and is underpinned by a separate data collection reflecting factors that impact FE teacher supply, such as the part-time nature of many of the roles.