Teacher supply in the 1990s: An analysis of current developments

Abstract

This paper considers a number of issues relating to teacher supply which is in a critical position in certain regions in the UK. There is a focus on the contribution to teacher supply made by courses of initial teacher education and some emerging trends in relation to recruitment to these courses are considered, particularly the age profile of recruits, their academic quality, their mobility in the job market and the completion rates on teacher education courses. Three policy related dilemmas emerge on analysing these recruitment statistics: the geographical location of teacher training places, the recruitment of mature students, and the place of the DES bursary for intending teachers of shortage subjects. The paper concludes with a consideration of possible methods of ameliorating the supply problem including salary differentials based on geographical area, alternative routes into teaching, the notion of multi‐tier levels of training for prospective secondary teachers depending on their subject expertise, issues of retention and persuading teachers to return to the classroom, and the potential of new technology to help solve the problem.