Commenting on the new DfE ITT data, Jack Worth, Education Workforce Lead at NFER, said:
“The lower ITT targets published by DfE today reflect several key trends over the last year, including how many new teachers the system needs, falling primary pupil numbers, improving retention rates and more trainees coming through in recent years. Taken together, these suggest future teacher supply is likely to come closer to meeting what the system will need to maintain the status quo.
“However, this is not a time for complacency. Sustained progress will be essential to reverse the damage that previous under-supply has caused to the extent of specialist teaching in shortage secondary subjects and particularly in schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.
"Helpfully, DfE has published a considerable amount of accompanying information alongside the ITT targets on how they have been estimated and what different factors are driving the target changes. This is welcome transparency that should aid a greater understanding in the sector about how the targets are estimated."