Schools see rise in unqualified teachers and unfilled posts

WEST Midland schools have seen an increase in unqualified teachers, higher staff turnover and more unfilled roles since 2010.

An analysis by the Department for Education has revealed how the school workforce in England has changed over the past six years, taking account of a host of different statistics.

Schools in the West Midlands have seen an increase in the proportion of teachers who do not have qualified teacher status.

Numbers were up by a quarter in primary schools from 1.5 per cent to two per cent, while in secondary schools there was also an increase from 4.3 per cent to 5.3 per cent.

The figures also show that churn rate of teaching staff in West Midland schools has increased since the Conservatives came to power, as well as there being a large increase in the proportion of schools reporting unfilled jobs or temporary staff in full-time posts at the start of the school year.

Back in 2010, 9.7 per cent of qualified teachers in the region’s secondary schools had subsequently left the state-funded profession by 2011. Between 2014 and 2015 this figure had increased to 10.6 per cent. The proportion of teachers 2010 1.5% 4.3% 8.2% 9.7% 6.0% 19.2% 2015 2.0% 5.3% 9.5% 10.6% 6.7% 24.3% leaving the profession due to retirement has plummeted in this time, with 38.8 per cent of those leaving between 2010 and 2011 going into retirement compared to 25.6 per cent of those leaving between 2014 and 2015.

This suggests qualified teachers are leaving the profession at a younger age now than six years ago.

In addition, the number of schools reporting unfilled vacancies and temporarily filled posts has increased across both primary (from six per cent in 2010 to 6.7 per cent in 2015) and secondary schools (from 19.2 per cent in 2010 to 24.3 per cent in 2015) over the same period.