Statistics from the Graduate Teacher Training Registry have shown that the numbers of people applying to train as teachers has fallen by 29% compared to the same point last year. Modern foreign languages was one of the worst hit subjects with applications for secondary teacher training falling by 42% for German and 47% for Spanish.
This comes just weeks after the Government pledged that from 2012 onwards, it would provide bursaries worth thousands of pounds for top graduates who train as teachers in science and languages. Despite the incentive, a spokesman for the Department of Education said: “It’s no surprise that many potential trainees are still carefully considering their options – given the major changes to student finance next year and that final details on teacher training bursaries have only just been published.”
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, agreed that the “uncertainty” of students is causing them to postpone making a decision but, he claims, “they’re also responding to the Government’s measures to expand school-led teacher training, which is, in many ways, more attractive. School-led teacher training can attract a salary."
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