NFER statement on the latest DfE Initial Teacher Training targets

Statement

Thursday 27 April 2023

Following the publication of the Department for Education’s (DfE) new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) targets, NFER’s School Workforce Lead, Jack Worth, said:

“The DfE’s published targets for this year’s initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment suggest even more new teachers will be required to meet schools’ future need for teachers compared to last year. DfE now expects to need more trainees than last year in subjects that are already struggling to recruit the required numbers, which will further compound the challenge of ensuring an adequate supply.

“Our updated forecast for ITT recruitment this year, based on applications so far, shows we are now expecting to recruit less than half of the secondary teachers that schools need. We anticipate that all secondary subjects except history, classics and PE will be below target this year. Without an urgent policy response to make teaching more attractive, schools will face increasingly intense shortages over the next few years, which are likely to impact negatively on the quality of education.”