Primary School Teacher Applicants Fall Again
A classroom in a newly built UK junior school.
4 min read
The number of people applying to train as a primary school teacher in England has fallen by almost 10 per cent year-on-year, PoliticsHome analysis shows.
A school leaders’ union said the figures were “extremely worrying”, warning that if the current trend continues, “we’ll literally end up without teachers in our classrooms, let alone achieve the government’s target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers”.
Concerns over teacher numbers have been on the rise in recent years, with schools becoming increasingly reliant on supply teachers and the use of non-specialists to fill roles.
Sector figures say pay and conditions have played a key part in schools struggling to recruit and retain staff in recent years.
The Labour government pledged to “reset the relationship with the profession”, promising a plan to recruit 6,500 new teachers, the details of which have yet to be revealed.
Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Reseach, said that in order to realise this ambition, the government "needs to put flesh on the bones of its strategy".
PoliticsHome analysis of the latest government figures show that the number of candidates applying to train as a primary school teacher hit 7,280 by the end of January, down from the 7,960 submitted in the same period in 2024.
The fall is equal to a 9 per cent decrease in applications year-on-year.
Recruitment runs for the academic year, with applications opening in October.
In January 2025, Department for Education (DfE) data showed that the number of applicants who had been accepted onto primary teacher training courses had fallen by 5 per cent from 2024, from 3,277 to 3,109.
The national picture masks a more varied regional outlook.
In the South West, analysis of DfE data showed the number of applicants accepted onto primary teacher training courses had fallen by almost a fifth in 2025 (18 per cent) from 275 to 225.
The South East saw accepted applicants fall by 12 per cent, while London saw an 11 per cent fall.
Last year, the DfE missed its target for recruitment of primary teacher trainees by 12 per cent, while at secondary the target was missed by 38 per cent. These figures largely relate to the previous Conservative government's time in office.
However, analysis of new data shows applications to train as a secondary school teacher have remained stagnant year-on-year since Labour took office.
Applications to train as a secondary school teacher received by January revealed 14,860 had been submitted, similar to the 14,883 received the year before.
Acceptances to secondary training courses have increased slightly year-on-year, by 5 per cent, rising from 4,582 to 4,831.
Under the previous Tory government, a spike in international applicants to train as a teacher in England led to a rise in applications, but did not translate into more trainees as many were rejected.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “These figures are pretty disappointing as even the small increase in the secondary acceptance rate is on a big shortfall for this academic year when the postgraduate trainee target was missed by more than a third.
“The decline in primary numbers is extremely worrying as the target for recruitment was missed by more than 10 per cent this year and this suggests the problem is worsening.”
Di’Iasio warned that Ofsted’s recently published proposals for report cards “will make matters even worse by creating an extensive new series of hurdles for schools, colleges and their staff”.
“If we go on at the current rate, we’ll literally end up without teachers in our classrooms, let alone achieve the government’s target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers.”
Worth told PoliticsHome that the new data indicates it is "highly likely to be the fourth straight year of poor recruitment to teacher training in England since the pandemic".
He said: "To realise its ambition to recruit 6,500 additional teachers by the end of the parliament, the government needs to put flesh on the bones of its strategy for resetting the relationship with the teaching profession, by putting in the resources necessary to materially improve the attractiveness of the teaching profession.”
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