Trainee teachers ‘better qualified’
Student teachers have better degrees than they did ten years ago, research has found.
The proportion of graduates going into teacher training with at least a 2:1 degree has increased from 49% in 1996 to 58% in 2006.
However, the researchers behind the report – the Good Teacher Training Guide 2008 - believe that this reflects the increased number of 2:1s given out by universities.
The findings from Buckingham University's Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER) also revealed that teaching is becoming increasingly a female profession, and that more teachers are being recruited from ethnic minorities.
However, the drop-out rate for student teachers is rising. The report shows that 15% of all trainees quit before the end of their course, and only 72% actually end up teaching.
Students training to be modern languages teachers have the highest drop-out rate, with only 63% going on to take a teaching job. Other courses with high drop-out rates include maths, with 18.5% quitting before the end, religious studies with 18.7% and citizenship with 20%.
Trainee classic teachers are least likely to quit, with only 7% failing to go on to teach.
The report also identified the top ten university teacher training schemes, based on the degrees entrants hold, how many of them go into teaching, and Ofsted’s judgment:
- University of Cambridge
- University of Oxford
- University of Exeter
- University of Warwick
- King's College London
- University of Manchester
- University of Sheffield
- University of Bristol
- Loughborough University
- University of Birmingham
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