Shortage of primary school teachers by 2015, research suggests

The UK could be heading for a shortage of teachers as figures suggest that 18,000 primary school staff will be needed by 2015, according to an independent thinktank.

Research carried out by Professor John Howson for Policy Exchange reveals that more teachers will required as the number of children entering primary school increases over the next five years.

Sam Freedman, head of Policy Exchange's education unit, claims that the local authorities will be unable to fill these teaching vacancies and believes that extra funding will be spent increasing the number of classroom assistants.

"Given that such assistants are untrained … this should be of serious concern to parents whose children will be entering primary school over the next few years," he notes.

Also shown in the report is that applications for secondary school training are also falling, with large drops in the numbers entering key shortage subjects such as maths and modern languages.

The Labour Market for Teachers is the first paper in a series concerning teaching recruitment that Policy Exchange will be releasing.

Last week it was revealed that the numbers of teachers taking the National Professional Qualification for Headship course will be halved to ensure only those committed to becoming heads receive the award.