Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of full-time equivalent teachers without qualified teacher status in each Parliamentary constituency in England.

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is considered desirable for teachers in most schools in England. In some schools, including academies, free schools and independent schools, QTS is not a legal requirement. Academies have a fundamental freedom to employ talented teachers who do not necessarily have QTS.

Most teachers in all schools, including academies, have QTS and have undertaken Initial Teacher Training (ITT). In the 2021/22 academic year, the latest data available showed that 12,551 teachers (full time equivalent) did not have QTS, which is equivalent to 2.7% of teachers.

Information on the school workforce in England is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The headcount of teachers without QTS in each state funded school in England can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/29d83b82-2aba-44c7-bb82-08db371944c7.

The requested information on the number of full time equivalent teachers without QTS in each Parliamentary constituency in England is available at: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/0728fb07-f014-492c-aac9-fd11bb441601/files/6d390537-3181-4f43-9672-08da47b59ff3.

There are 24,000 more teachers now than there were in 2010. The quality of teaching is the most important in school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Evidence is clear that high quality professional development can lead to improved pupil attainment.

The Department has invested in transforming training for teachers and head teachers. Every teacher and head teacher now has access to high quality, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career, starting with ITT.

By 2024, a reformed ITT provider market will be delivering quality assured training leading to QTS that places a greater emphasis than ever before on embedding structured practice into courses, ensuring trainees are ready to thrive in the classroom.

A new system of higher quality training provider partnerships will be supported by £36 million to introduce new Quality Requirements, including better training for mentors and the delivery of new, cutting edge, intensive training, and practice activity. Every teaching school hub will be involved in ITT to ensure that training places are available across the country.

The Department wants to continue bringing great people into teaching and has announced bursaries worth up to £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £29,000 tax-free, to attract talented trainees in subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.

In addition to scholarships and bursaries, the Department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.