Monthly Archives: December 2021

Take Care Seriously

Posted on by
2

Anne Longfield, the former Children’s Commissioner has published an important report on children in the care of local authorities entitled ‘Out of Harm’s Way. https://thecommissiononyounglives.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OUT-OF-HARMS-WAY-CYL-DEC-29-2021-.pdf?utm_source=HOC+Library+-+Current+awareness+bulletins&utm_campaign=834a4dd143-Current_Awareness_Social_Policy_E_29-12-2021&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f325cdbfdc-834a4dd143-103730653&mc_cid=834a4dd143&mc_eid=ae5482b5b9 the report by the Commission on Young Lives should be essential reading for all Councillors, Teachers, Social Workers and Emergency Service personnel, and members of police forces across the country.

The report starts with the case of Jacob, a teenager failed by authorities and who eventually took his own life. I wrong a blog about his case when the Serious Case Review was published back in January Time for Jacob’s Law | John Howson (wordpress.com) But Jacob sadly isn’t the only child let down by a system that is overloaded and under-funded. Not only are children in the care of local authorities suffering but, as seen recently in the outcome of court cases, young children below school age are dying at the hands of those supposed to love and care for them.

But for Jacob and for many children in care one of the key issues is the support they receive from the education system. The pioneering work by the TES more than a decade ago that helped with the creation of virtual schools to oversee the education of children in care on behalf of the ‘corporate parents/guardians’ must not be undermined by an education system that is still too geared to satisfying the needs of able middle-class parents who can make full use of a market-based schooling system.

In my post in January, I called for a Jacob’s law to ensure no child was left without a school place following a move either in care or for any other reason during the school year. Since then, I have heard of too many examples of children, often with complex educational needs, where a family move has meant the child has been denied a school place for far too long. We can debate home schooling when at the behest of the parents, but ‘no schooling’ because of the failure of some part of the state, whether a local authority, a diocese or an Academy Trust, is just not acceptable.

I hope that many Councillors and activists will read this report from The Commission on Young Lives and take action ahead of local authority budgets being set in February to ensure everything possible is done to improve the lot of these young people.

Some children do need to be moved away from their ‘home’ area for safety reasons, but these moves should be exceptional and not routine. No child of secondary age should be moved from a comprehensive system to a selective system where they have no access to selective schools regardless of their perceived ability levels.

We must care for the most vulnerable of our young people in a fit and proper manner and not as an afterthought.

Keep rural primary schools open

Posted on by
Reply

Two years ago, I wrote a blog about rural schools. Update on rural schools | John Howson (wordpress.com) Recently, the DfE published a new update of their list of maintained primary schools in rural areas. Rural primary schools designation – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The designation of ‘rural’ means more stringent rules have to be followed before a case for closing such a ‘maintained’ school can be made out. However, as the Order dealing with closures was made before academies were created, I assume that such procedures don’t apply to such schools.

In the recently published DfE list, there appeared t be only one school ‘proposed for closure. The school was located in North Yorkshire, a county with a large number of small rural primary schools.

As in previous lists there were four ‘greenbelt’ schools in the London boroughs, including two in Enfield. Both of those schools are Church of England schools, as indeed are many in the whole list. This reveals something of the history of the development of education in England and the reluctance of the State to become involved in what was seen as a responsibility of families. As the philosopher J. S. Mill put it “the role of the State is to see that its citizens are educated, not to educate them itself.”

There are echoes in Mill’s statement of the dilemma facing the government today over its approach to covid. The term ‘medical socialism’ a modern take on the phrase ‘nanny state’ has begun to appear in the media to explain the demands for no more restrictions on liberties that many Conservatives at Westminster are championing in the face of rules sought to reduce the speed of the spread of covid through the population.

It is interesting that the rules on rural school closures, and the need for a list of such schools, were made by a Labour government. Whether by inertia or a recognition that many such schools are located in constituencies with Conservative MPs, no government has challenged the rules even though they interfere in the workings of the market for school places.

Of course, other policies have impact on the future of rural schools. On the one hand there are the additional cost to the taxpayer locally of providing ‘free’ transport to another more distant school if more than three miles away or reached by an ‘unsafe’ route. On the other hand, the formula for funding schools may make some rural schools financially unviable unless they are part of a larger grouping where excess costs may be subsidized.

However, the funding formula does have some ‘fudge’ factors. In the previous blog the case of Holy Island First School was cited. The latest DfE data shows the cost per pupil as £91,000 compared with £4,292 for St Philip and St James Primary School in North Oxford. Find a school (skillsfunding.service.gov.uk)

Keeping school in their communities comes at a cost, especially in rural areas, but surely that is a cost worth bearing for the sake of these communities.

Half of secondary ITT applicants in just 3 subjects

Posted on by
1

The latest data on ITT applications, published by the DfE before the holiday break, revealed that just three subjects accounted for 49% of applicants to secondary ITT courses. Initial teacher training application statistics for courses starting in the 2022 to 2023 academic year – Apply for teacher training – GOV.UK (apply-for-teacher-training.service.gov.uk) The data are for applicants up to the 3rd December 2021.

SubjectTotalPercentage
Art and design3783%
Biology5525%
Business studies2832%
Chemistry5094%
Classics621%
Computing3093%
Design and technology2432%
Drama3523%
English153713%
Geography3853%
History10579%
Mathematics138512%
Modern foreign languages5685%
Music1912%
Other5645%
Physical education283224%
Physics3073%
Religious education2312%
11745100%

Source: DfE

English (13%); Mathematics (12%) and Physical Education (24%) together accounted for 49% of applicants, with PE accounting for nearly a quarter of the overall total!

So far, the TV advert being aired on one of the Freeview Channels doesn’t seem to be making a big impact in drawing in applicants in many subject areas, with most subjects recording in the region of 1-3% of the total.

The good news is that Physics applicants accounted for three percent of the total, but that is a third of the percentage of applicants for history. So, there is a long way to go to reach the totals needed to fill vacancies in September 2023 and January 2024 when these applicants will be job hunting.

Visit http://www.teachvac.co.uk for teaching posts across England in both State & private schools

In the run up to Christmas, the BBC ran a story about the likelihood of ex-teachers helping out in the classroom if the covid pandemic lays low large numbers of teachers in January. Covid: Doubts that ex-teachers will return by January – BBC News REC The Recruitment and Employment Confederation expressed the view that a backlog of DBS checks might hamper any return to the classroom even if ex-teachers were willing to do so.

The BBC story didn’t consider the many PE and history teachers that graduated from ITT in the summer and are already BDS checked and have not found a teaching job. An emergency scheme to offer them temporary employment ought to have been put in place already to ensure time wasn’t wasted, but the DFE doesn’t seem to be able to manage the market in such a manner. Of course, in former times, local authorities would have taken such action, but they have neither the cash nor the motivation to do so these days.   

£30,000 starting salary for teachers by 2022?

Posted on by
Reply

The DfE has published the letter it writes each year to the STRB (School Teachers Review Body) about it view of the pay levels for teachers and school leaders. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-review-body-strb-remit-letter-for-2022?utm_source=HOC+Library+-+Current+awareness+bulletins&utm_campaign=e1c61ffa7d-Current_Awareness_Social_Policy_E_20-12-2021&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f325cdbfdc-e1c61ffa7d-103730653&mc_cid=e1c61ffa7d&mc_eid=ae5482b5b9 This year, there is mention of recruitment issues and teacher supply as a factor for the STRB to consider.

The government has clearly accepted the need for a £30,00 starting salary for teachers outside London, with presumably higher rates within the pay bands governing the salary ranges for teachers in and around London. The letter from the DfE states that:

I refer to the STRB the following matters for recommendation:

• An assessment of the adjustments that should be made to the salary and allowance ranges for classroom teachers, unqualified teachers and school leaders to promote recruitment and retention, within the bounds of affordability across the school system as a whole and in the light of my views on the need for an uplift to starting salaries to £30,000.

The cliff edge created by the boundary of the national pay scale and London scales is of importance to many county authorities around London such as Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Too large a gap and schools in those areas will face significant recruitment challenges for teachers at all levels from the classroom to the head’s office.

I am not sure why the DfE mentions capital spending in the letter as that is not within the remit of the STRB. However, the DfE does acknowledge that:

Teacher quality is the most-important in-school determinant of pupil outcomes. That is why, in June, my department announced over £250 million of additional funding to help provide 500,000 world-leading teacher training opportunities throughout teachers’ careers. We recognise that alongside this training and development, we also need to reward the best teachers as well as provide a competitive offer that attracts top graduates and professionals into the profession. It is therefore right that additional investment in the core schools’ budget is in part used to invest in teachers, with investment targeted as effectively as possible to address recruitment and retention challenges and, ultimately, ensure the best outcomes for pupils.

Of interest to TeachVac www.teachvac.co.uk is the following.

Considerations to which the STRB should have regard

In considering your recommendations on the 2022/23 and 2023/24 pay awards, you should have regard to the following:

 a) The need to ensure that any proposals are affordable across the school system as a whole;

b) Evidence of the national state of teacher and school leader supply, including rates of recruitment and retention, vacancy rates and the quality of candidates entering the profession;

c) Evidence of the wider state of the labour market in England;

 d) Forecast changes in the pupil population and consequent changes in the level of demand for teachers;

e) The Government’s commitment to the autonomy of all head teachers and governing bodies to develop pay arrangements that are suited to the individual circumstances of their schools and to determine teachers’ pay within the statutory minima and maxima.TeachVac has recorded more than 64,000 vacancies for teachers during 2021, including a record number of vacancies during December 2021. The STRB might like to review the cost-benefits of the different recruitment methods in use at present and comment on their benefits to both teachers and schools.

After all, reducing recruitment costs paid by schools to a minimum will help release cash to pay for higher salaries while increasing the autonomy of headteachers and governing bodies. Perhaps there should be a Recruitment Czar?

Boom in Teaching Vacancies this December

Posted on by
Reply

Are schools starting the recruitment process for teachers required for September 2022 early this school year? Data from TeachVac www.teachvac.co.uk would certainly seem to suggest that something is happening that is different to usual.

A look at recorded vacancies for December 2021, up to yesterday, the 17th, compared with the same period in 2019 – the last year before the covid outbreak distorted the labour market for teachers – does suggest some schools might be bringing forward their recruitment process, possibly in case of any lockdown in the New Year? Talk in social media about the leading paid for recruitment platform putting up subscription rates, if correct, might also have had some influence on behaviour.

December recorded vacancies by TeachVac
Subject20192021Percentage +/- (The nearest whole %)
SEN244692%
Primary46577366%
Business437165%
Humanities203260%
Design & Technology8413156%
RE385955%
Leadership20230350%
Music385647%
History426043%
PE628435%
Total2192287631%
Art364319%
Languages10112019%
Geography62678%
Science2913096%
IT79813%
Mathematics273271-1%
English241225-7%
Total2192287631%
Source: TeachVac

Interestingly, the two big departments in secondary schools of English and Mathematics have not followed the general pattern of increases of, on average, about a third. Both of these subjects have recorded falls when compared with December 2019. Might it be that with a greater proportion of trainees on school-based courses, schools feel that they can recruit for the trainee pool without the need to advertise in the open market? Such an approach may say money, but not on a fixed cost subscription package.

The increase in primary vacancies, against a scenario where the sector is facing falling pupil numbers at the entry age group in many parts of the country merits further investigation. However, it is no surprise to see both business studies and design and technology so close to the top of the table. The recent DfE ITT Census contained grim news for schools wanting to recruit teachers in these subjects for September 2022. Wise schools will start recruiting as soon as possible. No doubt any surplus teachers in these subjects can be hired out to other schools within a MAT for a fee.

The growth in posts on the Leadership Scales is interesting. Does it herald the start of a boom in such vacancies, as the pressures of the last two years finally take their toll on headteachers who have told their governing bodies that they will be leaving in the summer?

I will be starting compiling the TeachVac Annual Reviews for the whole labour market and for Leadership posts during 2021 next week, with a view to publication early in 2022.

TeachVac continues to break records in recruiting new applicants; in matches made and in hits on the web site. TeachVac should record some 64,000 vacancies for teachers in 2021; far more than the DfE site. www.teachvac.co.uk

Schools are now signing up to the TeachVac 2022 package that costs £100 to register and £1 per match against a school’s vacancies with a ceiling of £1,000 plus VAT including the registration package, after which all further matches in 2022 are free. Full details of how to registration interest can be found at TeachVac Reports – The National Vacancy Service for Teachers and Schools and registration comes with a free report.

More on November 2021 ITT applications

Posted on by
2

November is only the start of the cycle of applications for September 2022, so it is important not to read too much into the data published recently by the DfE. However, traditionally heavy recruiting subjects such as history and PE appear to be doing well as usual. English also did well in the first month. There were also good early outcomes in art; music; mathematics; design and technology and business studies. Physics; geography and computing might be seen to be at the number expected, whereas religious education; biology and chemistry had a weak start to the round. Even allowing for the different method of recording the data for applications for modern languages courses, it may well be that these are not as healthy as might be hoped. The loss of data about individual subjects means little can be said about the subject than that bald fact. Drama, a subject not previously covered on this blog, appears to have had a good level of applications and offers.

As to the geographical breakdown of applicants, we now have data for The Channel Islands – 5 applicants-, – the European Economic Zone – 78 applicants, and the Rest of the World – 589 applicants, of whom 92 were already unsuccessful – about 20% of all unsuccessful applicants so far.

If the numbers from the regions not included in the UCAS count are removed, the total looks very similar to the November 2020 total, after allowing for the extra time period this year. Applications are significantly up from the Eastern Region and The South West, but little different after allowing for the longer time period in the other regions of England.

Applications for primary courses are above the figure for November 2020, but applications overall for secondary courses are the same as last year (UCAS Table B8). In effect, with the extra few days included this year compared with 2020, this might be a real decline, but it is very early days.

School Direct salaried courses continue to attract fewer applications. These may have switched to Apprenticeships, where significant growth over 2020 has been recorded.  Higher Education has recorded virtually the same number of applications as last year, and there were modest increases in School Direct Fees route applications and good growth in SCITT applications. However, all these are not measured against any changes in places on offer. There is also no breakdown by sector: an unhelpful omission.

Overall, there seems little difference from the same point last year. It is to be hoped that the remainder of the recruitment round does not progress as last year, since the 2021 ITT census has some alarmingly low numbers of trainees currently on course to enter the labour market in September 2022. There is now nowhere for the DfE to hide. As they control the application process, they cannot be unaware of progress towards the number of places they want filled, both regionally and in the different phases and subjects. They can also put pressure on providers to work faster in dealing with applications.

Approaching 40% of candidate by provider region are in London, the south East or Eastern Regions. This is in line with where demand is in the labour market for teachers. However, a portion of that demand each year is from the private schools.

It will be February before a real picture emerges for September 2022, but I would already be worried about the outcome for some subjects.

Applicants for ITT in 2022: A first look at the DfE data

Posted on by
Reply

My thanks to NASBTT for pointing me in the direction of the first DfE statistics for Teacher Training applications. This is for those wanting to train in 2022/23; courses mostly starting next September. These graduates will enter the teaching labour market in September 2023.

This is the first year that the DfE are running the application process instead of UCAS. The statistics cover only applications to courses in England. Teach First applications and any application made directly to a provider are excluded. The DfE totals include deferred applications for 2022/23. The data in this report is applications from the opening of the application round on the 12th October to the 22nd November 2021. The last round of UCAS data in November 2020 was for applications up to 16th November. The DfE data are up to a slightly later date than the UCAS data for last year.

Data are reviewed by this blog either as overall totals or, in the case of subjects, for those recruited, those with an offer with conditions and thus pending and those applicants that have received an offer. Next month deferrals will also be included in the totals for subjects in this blog. Applicants awaiting provider decisions and those unsuccessful are not included in the subject data. It is not clear whether applicants that have withdrawn are excluded or counted as unsuccessful by the DfEl.

The DfE makes the point that direct comparison to previous UCAS data is not directly possible because UCAS would double count where an applicants applied for a course with multiple subjects such as French and German. Languages have always had this issue, as has science where there was a science category as well as categories for the separate subjects in the UCAS data. However, for the majority of subjects there should be a close read across between the UCAS data and the new DfE data.

Looking at the data at the headline levels, the DfE has managed a good start to the process. Applications overall are 8,831 compared with 7,420 for England in last year’s Table A4 from UCAS. Applications total 22,946 this November, compared with 21,710 last year – Table B4: a slightly smaller difference. However, allowing for the extra time this year compared with last year for the data point, there would seem to be little difference in either table compared with last year.

The DfE has helpfully included new categories for the overall picture, including the number of withdrawals and the number of offers declined. How that works for the Table 2.1 isn’t clear. Does the ‘declined an offer’ mean that the candidate declined all offers or could they decline an offer and accept another and would they then be double counted in the total of candidates.

Looking at candidates – a much better term than applicants that could always be confused with applications – where the DfE are using more categories than UCAS used to do, it isn’t clear whether withdrawals or rejections are included or not in the total? However, as the totals for Tables 2.1 ad 4.1 are the same, they must be included somewhere?

The breakdown of candidates by age and sex has been dropped but the totals retained. Allowing for the extra time period, the balance seems similar to previous years. The next post on this blog will consider the geographical picture and the state of play by subject.

Fewer Asian recruits to PG Teaching courses this year?

Posted on by
Reply

How well is the teaching profession doing at increasing the number of trainees from different ethnic groups in England? The government first started considering this issue in 1997, when Baroness Morris, then a junior Minister at the Department, hosted a conference in Stratford, East London to discuss raising involvement from minority groups, at the instigation of the then Teacher Training Agency (TTA).

Two reports in the next twelve years charted the progress being achieved. Now ethnicity data in included in the annual Initial Teacher training Census conduced by the DfE. Progress has been better with some groups as the following table for the current cohort and the previous 2019/20 cohorts makes clear.

2019/202021/22
Asian ethnicity31963608
Black ethnicity11171372
Mixed ethnicity9711103
Other ethnicity378538
Total ethnicity groups56626621
White ethnicity2649526724

Source: DfE ITT Census additional tables accessed 13th December 2021

In these three cohorts, the proportion of the White ethnicity Group has reduced from 82% to 80% of the total. Trainees of the Asian Group make up the largest ethnic group followed by the Black group that contains those of both African and Caribbean ethnicity. Over time, as society become more multi-cultural those reporting as of ‘mixed’ ethnicity are likely to grow significantly.

One significantly under-represented Group is that of ‘gypsy and travellers’ -the Group that perform worst in education attainment- with just five recorded postgraduate trainees, albeit that is better than the three of last year and the four of the year before.

It would be interesting to view this data by both geographical region and by subjects, as there are likely to be substantial differences.  Interestingly at the aggregate level on postgraduate courses, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani trainee numbers fell this year. This may, in part be due to the new category of ‘not stated’ introduced this year. The number of African trainees increased, but those identified as Caribbean fell back from the high recorded last year.

The numbers recorded as either Irish or Scottish on postgraduate courses are negligible. Presumably, the fee regime makes studying to be a teacher in England unattractive to these groups of graduates.

The good news is that there are nearly 8,000 trainees in the London Region, usually a significant area for recruits from ethnic minorities. This is also an area with a high demand for teachers as TeachVac www.teachvac.co.uk regularly notes in its newsletters.

Distribution of physics trainees

Posted on by
Reply

The DfE’s ITT Census for 2021/22 was published yesterday – see previous post for the headline data. Over time, it will be possible to mine a great deal of information form the open-source information now provided by the DfE.

Those schools signed up to the new TeachVac service Are you overpaying to advertise your teaching posts? | John Howson (wordpress.com) for a registration fee of £100 plus VAT and  maximum annual charge of £1,000 plus VAT will be able to ask TeachVac staff to match this data with regional data for their area to help predict possible local labour shortages during 2022. So, if you are a school governor, headteacher or work for a MAT or diocese do read what is on offer and go to Teaching Jobs School Vacancies – The National Vacancy Service for Teachers and Schools (teachvac.co.uk) and hit the red tab at the top labelled New Matching Service

Taking physics as an example, the DfE data shows that the 537 trainees in the census are spread unevenly across the country.

Government RegionHEISCITTGrand Total
East Midlands292150
East of England161531
London5777134
North East12618
North West581674
South East6645111
South West371047
West Midlands341347
Yorkshire and The Humber332255
Grand Total342225567
Source TeachVac from DfE ITT census 2021   
Distribution of physics trainees

Approximately 43% of trainees are located in London or the South East, with just eight per cent located with providers in the West Midlands. This can be important because London and the South East contain a significant proportion of the country’s independent secondary schools. Such schools are more likely to advertise for a teacher of physics than do most state schools.

Many of the remaining selective schools are also in London and the South East, and they are the state schools most likely to advertise for a teacher of physics rather than a teacher of science. If just a quarter of the trainees in London and the South East opt to teach outside the state sector, this reduced the pool national to little over 500 trainees many of whom will be on school-based courses and not looking for a job on the open market.

A slightly different picture emerges for design and technology

Row LabelsHEISCITTGrand Total
East Midlands231033
East of England131629
London204363
North East4711
North West16521
South East212142
South West211132
West Midlands52961
Yorkshire and The Humber252449
Grand Total195146341
Distribution of design and technology trainees

Source TeachVac from DfE ITT census 2021

Here the North West looks like an area where recruitment will be a real challenge whereas the West midlands seems relatively, and it is only relatively, better off for teachers of this subject. However, we know nothing about specialisms with the subject.

This type of information is key to sensible recruitment planning and should play an important part in discussions about the working of the leveling up agenda in education at the level of the school.

ITT Census

Posted on by
2
The DfE’s ITT census published this morning highlight just how much the pandemic has affected recruitment. History recruited to 199% of the DfE target while physics managed just 22% of target – a new record low for the subject. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2021-to-2022 The key message from the census is that easy to recruit subjects had a good year, but subjects where recruitment is challenging often continued to have issues with physics at 22% of target a matter of serious concern and design and technology at 23% of target also facing a crisis.

2013/14

2019/2020

2020/21

2021/22

Percentage of Target at census date

%

%

%

%

Mathematics

86

65

84

95

English

136

110

127

118

Modern Languages

85

64

74

71

Biology

163

189

117

Physics

42

45

22

Chemistry

67

80

105

Physical Education

138

105

135

164

Other

57

82

25

Design & Technology

45

42

75

23

History

150

115

175

199

Geography

100

118

130

86

Computing

63

75

105

69

Art & Design

136

62

132

140

Religious Education

82

94

128

99

Music

97

80

125

72

Drama

157

Business Studies

88

53

102

45

All Secondary

98

83

106

82

Inc TF

Inc TF

Inc TF

Primary

99

94

130

136

Inc TF

Inc TF

Inc TF
Looking back at a comparison of this year with 2019/2020 before the pandemic most subjects have still recruited better to target apart from those mentioned above and computing and music. There is also good news for the government in that trainee numbers in London are up on two years ago; the only region where that is the case. However, it isn’t clear how the increase breaks down between primary and secondary trainees in terms of the increase. Some 8% of secondary trainees and 5% of primary are classified as non-UK National trainees by background. Clearly, without these trainees the position in the secondary sector would have been even worse. The government will also be gratified by the overall qualification level of trainees as measured by degree class. However, once a gain there is a need to delve below the total to see if there are difference s between subjects and parts of the country. As predicted the percentage of trainees on the School Direct Salaried route fell from 6% to 3%. However, there was an increase in trainees on the apprenticeship route from one per cent of the total to three per cent. The shift from higher education to school based courses continued with higher education now accounting for just 45% of trainees. The High Potential Trainee route (ex Teach First) remained at 15%. The new name seems a little provocative for a short-service route. Looking across the board at the implications for the 2022 recruitment round it seems likely that the primary sector will be able to fill vacancies relatively easily. However, it is a different matter in the secondary sector. Schools will be awash with applications for history and PE posts but should now be thinking of how to deal with vacancies in the design and technology and for physis as well as business studies and some of the subjects classified as ‘other’ by the DfE.