TTR0082
Written evidence submitted by the University of Exeter School of Education
Initial teacher education at the University of Exeter School of Education
The University of Exeter School of Education offers a wide range of postgraduate initial teacher education programmes across both the primary and secondary phase. There are a range of further postgraduate programmes taken by qualified teachers, and others, and the school carries out impactful education research.
Summary
There are significant difficulties with recruiting and retaining teachers, exacerbated in the South West of England by the educational isolation of many schools, unreliable and expensive public transport, and cost and availability of affordable accommodation. This has a negative impact on disadvantaged pupils as schools serving areas of disadvantage are more likely to struggle to recruit suitably qualified teachers.
The current situation regarding teacher recruitment and retention
Which subjects are most affected?
- Recruitment of science, mathematics and MFL teachers to teacher education programmes is particularly challenging. For 2022-2023 academic year the University of Exeter would usually expect to have around 45-50 students on the secondary science PGCE course. Reflecting the national picture and that of other similar, largely rural, HEI providers, there are currently 23 students on the course: 5 physicists, 8 chemists and 10 biologists. This represents 25% of our target for physics, 67% for chemistry and 30% for biology. The secondary mathematics PGCE programme has seen numbers drop by almost 50%, with just 9 students, about 20% of the admissions target. Applications for primary initial teacher education with a specialism in mathematics or science have also fallen. Recruitment for the 2023-2024 academic year is proving equally challenging, with numbers of applicants down across many subjects in our ITE programmes.
- In the last 5 years, the percentage of offers conditional on a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course has ranged from 20-45% for physics, 10-30% for chemistry and with wide variations in other subjects. SKE courses can be useful to support students bridging a small gap between their degree subject and subject to be taught but are less useful where there is a large gap.
How does the situation differ across the country and across different types of schools and colleges?
- The recruitment challenge is particularly acute in the South West of England. Anecdotal evidence suggests that due to financial pressures many of our trainees have returned to the family home to train and our data shows that over 80% of our applicants are from the South West of England. This is potentially problematic as low POLAR areas, as found in many parts of the South West[1], have fewer graduates to return home and thus fewer potential ITE candidates.
- The University of Exeter works with a range of schools across a large geographical area including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and beyond. Trainees are placed in two contrasting school placements during their time on the PGCE course. There are two significant pressures which are particularly acute in the South West and thus for students on our course: transport and accommodation.
- Transport. With the increasing financial costs of car ownership, particularly for younger drivers, and the long waiting lists for driving tests post-Covid, fewer than 50% of our trainees have a car and are able to drive to their placements, so are reliant either on a lift from a fellow trainee or public transport. Public transport, where it exists at all, is expensive and buses are often unreliable making getting to placements challenging. The University of Exeter offers financial incentives to trainees who offer lifts to fellow trainees, but this is not a solution for many due to them frequently living a long distance from each other and many of our primary schools offering a placement to only one trainee.
- Accommodation. As school placements can be very difficult to get to, trainees may need to find separate accommodation for each placement. Thus, normal student accommodation on a one-year contract is not available to the trainees. This is a different situation to that on many more urban PGCE courses. Temporary (10 week) accommodation can be very expensive, particularly in the summer term when prices rise significantly for temporary rented accommodation due to tourism. Quite a high proportion of our trainees are female and they are less willing to take accommodation in shared houses or to share lifts than they were a few years ago.
- The University tries to put students in placements which are not too far apart, but the issues with public transport mean that students may need to move closer to placements, with all the stresses that entails.
- It is usually possible to place secondary trainees in groups as the schools are larger. However, many primary schools in the area are very small and can only accommodate one trainee. When those schools are geographically isolated, trainees may need to live near the school which can increase the risk of trainees feeling isolated and requiring greater support.
What impact does this have on pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND?
- Teachers are essential for providing high quality education and ensuring inclusive and equitable education for all, as outlined in UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal 4[2].
- The most important way in which schools can support disadvantaged pupils is through providing access to high-quality teaching. Based on this assumption, our experience indicates a potential relationship between social mobility and teacher mobility. In many parts of the South West teacher mobility is reduced by an increasingly difficult rental market and shortage of affordable accommodation[3].
- The shortage of specialist teachers is likely to perpetuate educational inequalities as schools which serve disadvantaged populations are less likely to be able to recruit qualified, specialist teachers, particularly of shortage subjects. For example, only about 16% of physics teachers in disadvantaged schools have a relevant degree, compared to about 50% in affluent schools[4]. The challenges in recruiting to our PGCE programmes will exacerbate the difficulties schools in our region have in recruiting teachers.
- Shortages of science teachers, particularly physics teachers, are cited as a factor in school leaders’ decision not to offer triple science[5], widely recognised as the main route into STEM careers.
What are the main factors leading to difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified teachers?
- The pay gap between teaching and other professions, particularly in the private sector, the well-publicised heavy workload, long hours, the lack of opportunities for flexible working, the cost of training (particularly in subjects with no bursary) and the costs of accommodation and transport as discussed above.
What action should the Department take to address the challenges in teacher recruitment and retention?
- The DfE should consider targeted accommodation or travel bursaries specifically for placements in areas of disadvantage and/or educational isolation[6]. Bursaries that support ECTs to move to these areas could also be considered[7].
- The DfE should consider the burden that mentoring trainees places on schools. The problem is particularly acute in very small schools, and it may be better for these schools to participate by offering enrichment experiences for trainees rather than providing full placements7.
- The DfE should consider the differences in pay and conditions between teaching and other professions. The recent uplift in starting salary reduces the gap between teaching and other professions, but there has been a significant decrease in relative salaries for experienced teachers which make it less attractive to remain in the profession. Post-Covid, many professional occupations now offer the opportunity to work from home part of the time and this flexibility, which is welcomed by many, is not offered to teachers.
- The retention rates of teachers are very low, with up to 34% of teachers, rising to up to 40% of STEM teachers, leaving the profession in the first five years[8]. The more acute the subject shortage, the more alternative options those teachers have. The DfE should focus on efforts to retain teachers as this is both more cost effective than continually training new teachers and making teaching a more attractive occupation will encourage more graduates to consider it. Access to professional development has been shown to support retention[9] but funded support for teachers to attend long term PD such as Masters programmes has reduced.
- When teaching is seen as a respected, high status, profession then recruitment is less challenging. Thus it is important that Government ministers responsible for teaching should speak positively about the profession and the teaching unions (who are made up of teachers)[10].
- The DfE should remember that the majority of science teaching in England is carried out by people with bioscience degrees and people training to be biology teachers should be consistently offered high value bursaries.
- The DfE should consider supporting universities to pilot a two-year PGCE for graduates without a relevant undergraduate degree to train as physics and mathematics teachers. This would allow for sufficient time to learn the subject knowledge content required to teach to A-level in addition to learning to teach.
- The DfE should consider the role of Ofsted in exacerbating teacher workload and stress. Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in ten Coroner’s reports (as reported by the Guardian),[11] and contributes to teachers’ exodus from the profession. Inspections should be reformulated as professional learning conversations and carried out preferably by existing headteachers with the aim of sharing good practice.
What has been the impact of the new bursaries and scholarships announced in October?
- The new bursaries and scholarships have not been sufficient to reverse the decline in applications for PGCE places for 23-24.
How well does the current teacher training framework work to prepare new teachers and how could it be improved?
- At the University of Exeter we have a firm commitment to a people-first model of teacher education[12] which foregrounds the social and relational aspects of learning to act as a teacher. The trainee learns within a professional community of practice including through reflective dialogue with peers, with more expert colleagues within the field, and with scaffolded interactions with the knowledge base of teacher education and teaching (reading and debating what has been written about within the field). Trainees learn how to value relationships with individual children, with groups of learners and with colleagues.
- With our other UCET colleagues, we value teacher education that works within professional collaboration to produce teachers who: are competent and confident professionals who have a commitment to their own ongoing learning; analyse and interrogate evidence critically in making informed decisions in the course of their practice; are intellectually curious about their work; and are responsible professionals who embody high standards of professional ethics, acting with integrity and recognising the social responsibilities of education, working towards a socially just and sustainable world[13].
- In consequence, we have an ambitious curriculum that covers the teacher education Core Content Framework (CCF) in its entirety, and which also goes far beyond it. Whilst we believe the CCF and its evidence base should be regularly reviewed, we do not think that the CCF as a minimum entitlement needs to be substantially changed. We have some concerns that the way in which these frameworks are implemented may imply a single ‘correct’ model for the education of teachers and risk undermining teaching as an intellectually engaging, rigorous and creative profession that is attractive to graduates.
Are there ways in which teacher training could be improved to address the challenges in recruitment and retention?
- Teacher training cannot address the challenges to recruitment caused by the pay gap between teaching and other professions nor workload challenges nor the lack of opportunities for flexible working.
- The current requirements for reaccreditation and the significant workload challenges resulting from this have done nothing, and will do nothing, to address the challenges in recruitment and retention. At best it is a waste of resources at a time of acute challenge for the education system. At worst it will see well known and respected providers driven from the system, resulting in geographical gaps in provision of university-based teacher education.
How does teacher training in England compare internationally, and what are the benefits and disadvantages of the English system?
- In the United States, many teaching methods courses still occur in university classrooms with limited opportunities to engage with school children[14]. This is a significant contrast to the position in England where there is a minimum requirement for 120 days in the classroom during a one-year course of postgraduate teacher education. In consequence, decontextualised claims about effective teacher education from the US should be rigorously tested before being widely adopted into the very different context in England. The government proposes to embed the notion of core practices15, developed in the US, into teacher education in England, without any research into its effectiveness in this context. The assumption that what works in one context must therefore work in another is at best naïve.
- International research suggests that graduates of teacher education programmes with a greater emphasis on school-based practice are usually better prepared for their first teaching post, but the quality of that school experience matters. While an overall lack of school-based practice has a negative effect on pupil outcomes, more time in schools does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. Graduates of programmes with an extended practicum experience in which school-based practice is ‘interlaced’ with university coursework have increased confidence, are more effective teachers and are increasingly committed to teaching as a long-term career[15]. In consequence, reducing the proportion of university-based teacher education nationally is likely to lead to teachers being less, rather than more, prepared for a career as a teacher.
What has been the impact of the Early Career Framework implemented in September 2021?
- The heavy mentoring requirement of the ECF has led to schools offering fewer placements for our ITE trainees. Anecdotally, the content is also quite demotivating for the well trained ECTs who feel it is less rigorous than they have already covered on their PGCE courses.
What particular challenges exist in teacher recruitment, training and retention for teachers from different demographic backgrounds?
- For students with children, issues with finding childcare can exacerbate the pressures on both accommodation and transport. Childcare is hard to find in the South West, as it is elsewhere, and it frequently does not open early enough to allow a trainee who is a parent to drop off and undertake a long journey to a placement. The University prioritises placements in close proximity for trainees with childcare, and many school placements are also understanding, but childcare is a significant stressor for trainees who are parents and especially for those who are single parents. There are similar issues for trainees with other caring responsibilities. The option of a part-time PGCE might support students with caring responsibilities, particularly single parents.
- For potential trainees who do not have family support with e.g. accommodation, for example those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and who are not intending to train in a subject with a bursary, the financial cost of training is a strong disincentive.
- For the University of Exeter, recruiting teachers from different ethnic backgrounds is a challenge. As already noted, over 80% of our trainees come from the South West, which is less ethnically diverse than most other parts of the country[16]. Annually, around 4% of our cohort declare that they are from Black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds.
- Devon and Cornwall Police figures revealed that from July 2021 to 31 July 2022, reports of hate crime in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly increased by 21.8 per cent, from 2,371 hate crimes to 2,888[17]. A significant proportion of this is race related hate crime. It is reasonable to assume that when hate crime increases in general society, it also increases in schools.
- Over the last 14 years, our Black and Minority Ethnic trainees have reported challenges which correspond with current literature. These include: racism; struggles with identity; stereotyping; low teacher expectations; religious requirements; language; impact of ‘whiteness’ as normative; microaggressions; reluctance to report; cultural clashes and ‘stealth’ racism.
- In response, the University of Exeter has had a Race Equality Resources Officer (RERO) in the School of Education for the last 14 years. This officer knows and understands the pressures and cultures in schools and proactively supports trainees. This post has been so successful that a similar post was created in the Exeter Medical School and there is now an Academic Lead for Student Support (Race Equality and Inclusion) in every university department.
- The problems of feeling isolated while on placement (as discussed above) are particularly acute for international students, who may also be struggling to adapt to a new culture and a different education system.
April 2023
[1] https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/young-participation-by-area/
[2] https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000245656
[3] Watson, A. (2021) University of Exeter, Expanding ITT project evaluation. Submitted to DfE 9.10.21
[4] House of Lords Science and Technology Committee (2022) https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33254/documents/179987/default/
[5] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/media/5143/teacher_supply_and_shortages.pdf
[6] As defined by Ovenden-Hope & Passey 2019: https://www.marjon.ac.uk/educational-isolation/Education-Isolation-Report.pdf
[7] Watson, A. (2021) University of Exeter, Expanding ITT project evaluation. Submitted to DfE 9.10.21
[8] House of Lords Science and Technology Committee (2022) https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33254/documents/179987/default/
[9] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/media/3784/retaining_science_mathematics_and_computing_teachers.pdf
[10] Gavin Williamson said teaching unions ‘just hate work’ during Covid pandemic | Coronavirus | The Guardian
[11] Revealed: stress of Ofsted inspections cited as factor in deaths of 10 teachers | Ofsted | The Guardian; ‘My colleague had a heart attack in front of me’: horrific toll of Ofsted inspections | Ofsted | The Guardian
[12] Brooks, C., McIntyre, J. and Mutton, T. (2023) ‘Learning to think, perform and act with integrity: does teacher education have a signature pedagogy, and why does this matter?’. London Review of Education, 21 (1), 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.21.1.01.
[13] UCET Intellectual Basis of Teacher Education (IBTE) position paper
[14] Grossman, P. (Ed) (2018) Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education. Harvard Education Press.
[15] Burn, K. & Mutton, T. (2015) A review of ‘research-informed clinical practice’ in Initial Teacher Education, Oxford Review of Education, 41:2, 217-233, DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2015.1020104
[16] Census - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
[17] Hate crime reports in Devon and Cornwall up by more than 20% - BBC News