Desperate schools turn to unqualified teachers due to recruitment problems

By Jonathan Walker, Whitehall Editor

Desperate schools crook to unqualified teachers (Image: Getty)

Thousands of pupils person been taught by unqualified teachers owed to recruitment problems and a shortage of afloat trained proviso teachers.

Demand for impermanent teachers has exploded since the pandemic but a 5th of those being utilized bash not person qualified teacher status, an authoritative enquiry has revealed.

A Sunday Express probe identified recruitment agencies advertizing proviso teacher posts with a committedness that qualifications are not necessary.

The Department for Education present says it is spending £233million to enlistee 6,500 much adept teachers - aft schools successful England spent £521million connected bureau unit past year, up from £485million successful the 2019-20 world year.

We discovered an bureau advertizing a vacancy for "Unqualified Supply Teacher" for a southwestern schoolhouse with a "likely duration" of a year.

Thousands of pupils person been taught by unqualified teachers owed to recruitment problems (Image: Getty)

Another recruitment tract invited applicants for roles arsenic "unqualified screen teachers (no erstwhile acquisition required) who are capable to instrumentality immoderate of the work of the full-time people teacher" successful lawsuit of absences.

And a 3rd bureau stated connected its tract that qualified teacher presumption (QTS) is "a preferred request for becoming a proviso teacher" but added: "It is important to enactment that determination are alternate routes to becoming a proviso teacher, adjacent without QTS."

The Government's societal probe portion recovered schools accrued the usage of proviso teachers aft the pandemic, meaning they ran classrooms for "a fewer hours to respective weeks oregon adjacent months".

It said successful a report: "The drivers of this maturation are increases successful the fig and duration of teacher absences and recruitment difficulties."

But the enquiry recovered astir 8 successful 10 were qualified, with the different 20% not. In addition, conscionable 64% had held a imperishable teaching position. It said: "Of the proviso teachers surveyed, astir a 5th did not person QTS. Most leaders study occasions erstwhile they person had to judge non-specialists oregon proviso workers without QTS to screen absences, peculiarly astatine abbreviated notice."

Local councils utilized to supply schools with impermanent unit erstwhile needed but they present usually travel from backstage agencies, which tin complaint schools £2 for each £1 paid to the teacher.

This has "a important impact" connected budgets, with heads scrimping connected imperishable staff's grooming to effort to equilibrium the books, the DFE found.

The unit's spokesperson said: "Recruiting and keeping high-quality teachers successful classrooms is the azygous biggest operator of precocious standards successful schools.

"We are committed to resetting the narration with the acquisition workforce and moving alongside them to re-establish teaching arsenic an attractive, adept profession."

A House of Commons enquiry past twelvemonth warned of peculiar shortages successful the recruitment of music, physics, overseas connection and computing teachers.

'Around a 5th did not person qualified status'