A widespread lack of specialist physics teachers persists due to recruitment and retention challenges

The recruitment and retention of specialist physics teachers is a perennial concern for schools and policymakers as the number of recruits to initial teacher training (ITT) always undershoots its target. New NFER analysis of School Workforce Census (SWC) data ^[1], commissioned by the Institute of Physics, sheds new light on how this affects specialist teaching in secondary schools in England.

A relatively small proportion of Science Double Award GCSE teaching is done by physics specialists

Persistent under-supply of physics specialists over many years has led to science departments in English secondary schools that are disproportionately staffed by teachers without a degree in physics ^[2].  A large proportion of pupils enter the Science Double Award GCSE, the content for which is split evenly between the disciplines.  

However, teaching for Double Science is disproportionately staffed by teachers with a degree qualification in biology. Figure 1 below shows the proportion of Key Stage 4 science teaching hours in 2023/24 was 65 per cent by biology specialists, 38 per cent by chemistry specialists and only 16 per cent by physics specialists (note: the proportions sum to more than 100 per cent because some teachers are counted as having multiple specialisms).

This means that a lot of the GCSE physics content is taught by teachers without a main specialism in physics. In turn, this could mean it is taught less well or less passionately than it would otherwise be and lead to lower progression to physics A level and pursuit of physics beyond. Indeed, biology A level entries in 2024 were 70 per cent higher than physics A level entries, which is a gap that could grow further if physics teacher supply issues persist. Fewer students pursuing further study of physics could also feed into future teacher supply issues, leading to a continuous downward spiral.

However, the vast majority of GCSE science teaching is at least done by a teacher with a degree in a science subject, which is preferable to a teacher without any science specialism.

Figure 1 Only 16 per cent of GCSE Double Award teaching is done by physics specialists

The distribution of physics specialist teachers across schools is also uneven. The table below shows the number of schools and selected staffing characteristics split by the number of physics specialist teachers in the school. Note this analysis does not include all secondary schools due to a lack of coverage in the underlying data and further data cleaning leading to some schools being excluded. While this means that data is not necessarily nationally representative, it is robust enough for illustrating the broad picture across secondary schools.  

The findings reveal that at least 600 secondary schools (just over a quarter of our sample) have no specialist physics teacher in the science department. These schools tend to be smaller, having on average seven science teachers in the department, and have fewer teaching hours of science than in other schools. A further 659 schools have only one physics specialist in the science department, who on average covers 12 per cent of overall science teaching hours. More than half (55 per cent) of our sample of schools have either no or only one physics specialist. We know from other research that we have conducted that schools serving the most disadvantaged communities are more likely to lack physics specialists, meaning this is an issue not just of cold spots across the country but also crucial for social mobility and opportunity. 

In contrast, some schools have teams of specialist physics teachers. In schools with at least five physics specialists, the physics specialists teach around a third of the overall science hours, meaning pupils are likely to experience teaching by a range of teachers who are specialists in their subject. Having a community of physics specialists may also support physics teachers’ professional development as their department has a depth of expertise in the subject and new physics teachers can learn from working with more experienced peers. 

Figure 2 At least 600 secondary schools have no physics specialist in the science department

Physics recruitment to teacher training is forecast to be better this year, but still below target

Despite the patchy picture of physics specialists across the country, might the supply of physics specialist teachers be improving over time to address this? There have been some encouraging trends, but supply is nonetheless likely to remain constrained.

The recruitment of physics specialists into teacher training has been increasing in recent years. The year immediately after the pandemic saw a low of 427 physics trainees recruited in 2022/23. At the same time, low retention, growing pupil numbers and preceding years of similarly low recruitment resulted in DfE’s recruitment target growing to more than 2,500. Recruitment that year represented just 16 per cent of the target.

As shown in Figure 3, since 2023/24 there has been some reversal of fortune, with numbers of trainees recruited growing from 465 to an estimated 995 this year ^[3]. Many are international applicants: while the number of physics applicants based in England is up by 19 per cent from last year and 72 per cent from the year before, applicants from outside of the UK and European Economic Area are up by 70 per cent from last year and 270 per cent from the year before. This has been driven primarily by expansion of physics bursary eligibility to non-UK nationals. There has been concern expressed about how much long-term benefit to teacher supply international trainees can add, with reports of some struggling to find employment due to visa issues and experiencing financial pressures while training.

The recruitment target has also fallen due to slowing pupil number growth, improving retention (see below) and a double-whammy effect of increasing ITT recruitment. Since 2023/24 the target has fallen from 2,820 to 1,410 this year. Despite these trends, physics recruitment is still only likely to be around 70 per cent of its target (with a forecast error range of 60-80).

This may mean continued strain on the availability of physics specialists. However, the target is calculated to assess how many trainees are needed to maintain the status quo, which the model assumes is a third of science teaching being physics. As shown above, the number of physics specialists is far below a third of staff in science departments. Therefore, physics ITT recruitment could be both below the target but also adding to the number of specialists in the school system.

Figure 3 Physics ITT recruitment is very likely to be below target this year, but the closest it has been for many years

Physics teachers remain more challenging to retain than other secondary teachers

The physics recruitment challenge is exacerbated by the fact that physics teachers are also more difficult to retain. This adds upward pressure to the recruitment target. DfE analysis that calculates the target reveals that physics teachers have an annual leaving rate of 11 per cent, compared to 9.8 per cent for secondary teachers overall. However, this gap has shrunk in recent years: in the year before the Covid-19 pandemic the leaving rate among physics teachers was 12.3 per cent, compared to 9.5 per cent for secondary teachers overall.

Further, our analysis reveals early career physics teachers are more likely to leave than their secondary early career colleagues. Figure 4 below shows the difference in retention rate among physics and secondary trainees who entered the state-funded sector straight after successfully completing ITT, after two years and after five years. For the most recent cohort for which data is available, after two years only 71 per cent of physics trainees who entered are retained compared to 78 per cent among all secondary trainees. After five years, only 55 per cent of physics trainees are retained compared to 66 per cent among all secondary trainees.

Figure 4 Retention of early career physics teachers is more challenging than for other secondary early career teachers

Retention among new physics teacher trainees is low but appears to be improving 

Generally, physics teacher trainees have a low retention rate that has been consistent over time. The latest available data suggests that only 69 per cent are retained after three years, 57 per cent after four years and 55 per cent after five years.  

However, there has been some improvement in the retention of teachers in their first year of teaching over recent years, with 87 per cent retained. This is higher than the 77 per cent it was for the cohort that entered teaching just before the Covid-19 pandemic. The same is partly true for secondary trainees, although the retention rate only increased by two percentage points (from 86 to 88 per cent) over the same period.  

This could be due to a range of factors, including the introduction of the Early Career Framework (ECF) (although there is debate about what aspect of the ECF might be driving this increase). The disproportionate increase in retention of first-year physics teachers in recent years could be due to early career retention payments, which our recent research suggested may have contributed to improved retention (by around one percentage point in 2023/24, although this is estimated with considerable uncertainty).

Figure 5 Retention of first-year physics teachers has improved in recent years

Conclusions 

In summary, while there have been some improvements in physics teacher recruitment and retention in recent years, there remains a deep-seated under-supply of physics specialist teachers across the country. A lack of specialist physics teachers affects pupils’ experience of physics learning with potential knock-on impacts for further progression if it is not taught effectively and by a subject specialist. The under-supply is particularly acute for schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Action to continue improving physics teacher recruitment and retention and expanding access to specialist teachers across more schools and regions is vital. This will ensure broader access to high-quality STEM education, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Footnotes

[1] This work was undertaken in the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service using data from ONS and other owners and does not imply the endorsement of the ONS or other data owners.

[2] In line with the Department for Education (DfE), we define specialists as teachers with a post-A level qualification in a relevant subject. The DfE maintains a mapping list that links each degree subject to a set of relevant school subjects for which teachers would be regarded as a specialist. We use this mapping for our analysis. Other definitions of specialism exist, but this is the one we have used for our analysis.

[3] This year’s number shown in the chart is a forecast, based on trends in applications received so far this year and remains subject to uncertainty.