A-level students in the poorest areas of the country are being “locked out” of key subjects such as physics and computer science due to a lack of trained teachers, an education charity has warned.
A poll, commissioned by Teach First, suggests that 31 per cent of schools in the poorest communities do not offer computer science at A level because of a lack of teachers trained in that subject, compared with just 11 per cent of schools in the wealthiest areas.
Almost one in 10 schools in the poorest areas do not offer physics at A level due to a lack of trained teachers, compared with only 1 per cent of schools in the most affluent areas, according to the Teacher Tapp survey of 1,319 senior school leaders in England last month.
Teach First has warned that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are being shut out of one of the best-paid career paths.
Teacher shortages hit the disadvantaged
The charity has called on the government to take urgent action by increasing funding for schools and improving the pay offer for teachers to help address staff shortages.
Specifically, Teach First has called for a raise in teacher salaries to reach the top third of graduate earnings by 2030, which it said would secure “a strong pipeline of future talent”.
It further suggested that the government restore pay for teacher trainees on employment-based routes to the real-terms level of 2010, which would represent a 9 per cent rise on 2024.
Teach First said this would ensure that “those training on the job can afford to do so”.
It also recommended that the government expand pay premiums for teachers in shortage subjects working in poorer communities.
This would “safeguard access to vital subjects like Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths], modern languages and music in every school”.
Students ‘locked out’ of tech and AI careers
Russell Hobby, chief executive of Teach First, said that ”too many young people are being locked out of studying A levels like computer science because there simply aren’t enough trained teachers”.
“This blocks pupils from poorer areas from some of the best-paid careers in a fast-growing tech and AI-driven economy,” he added.
“The government must act in the spending review: raise teacher pay, support those teaching in the schools and subjects that need them most, and make sure every pupil has access to the opportunities they deserve.”
Belinda Chapple, headteacher of Caterham High School, a secondary in Ilford, East London, said: “Across the country, schools like mine are making difficult choices because of the national staffing shortages in key subjects.
“We’ve struggled to recruit computer science teachers, like many other schools, removing a key career pathway for our A-level students.
“We urgently need increased funding for disadvantaged schools, increased teacher pay and additional pay premiums to attract subject experts to the schools that need them most. Otherwise we risk narrowing futures and deepening inequality for a generation.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
