Bradford MP calls for new system to measure local teacher shortages

Imran Hussain also said funding needed to be directed to schools with a history of high teacher shortages.

The Labour Bradford East MP said: “Under the current teacher census, the Department for Education conducts a review of teacher vacancies at a national level and uses this information to identify which subject areas face a shortage nationally.

“This information is then used to determine which subjects attract a bursary of up to £30,000 offered to trainee teachers.

“However as it is only conducted at national level, the census and national assessment only seeks to help increase the number of teachers in subjects where there is a national shortage.”

He said this did not recognise shortages which happen at local level. Mr Hussain said he had held talks with Schools Minister Nick Gibb about the issue.

His comments follow a critical report from the Public Accounts Committee which said the Government had no plan for tackling teacher shortages. At the time the PAC chair Meg Hiller said the Department for Education “took comfort from national statistics but pays insufficient heed to the fact that teaching happens locally, in individual schools”.

A DfE spokesman said: “Teaching continues to be an attractive career with the number of teachers in our schools at an all-time high – 15,000 more since 2010 – and a year on year fall in the number of vacant posts. The number of new teachers entering our classrooms outnumbers those who retire or leave, while there are more teachers returning to the profession than in 2010, demonstrating how many people relish the prospect of a career where they can transform lives every day.”

He said the Government was also investing “hundreds of millions of pounds to attract the best graduates into teaching through schemes like Teach First and the National Teaching Service.