The majority of Manchester’s Newly Qualified Teachers could drop out within one year according to a new report by a Manchester based supply teaching agency.
The specialist recruiter, Randstad Education, produced a forecast based on the current national trend of increased dropouts in the sector, if nothing changes, within two years, those dropping out within their first year will outnumber those staying in the profession.
Just 62% of newly qualified teachers were still in the education sector a year after qualifying according to the latest figures available (for 2011). The drop-out rate includes those who qualify but never get a teaching job as well as the number who secure jobs in education but leave within 12 months. This is a steep decline from 2005 when 80% of newly qualified teachers stayed in the profession for at least a year.
Randstad Education says that there is no sign that this rate is set to change and that by 2017, just 48% of newly qualified teachers will remain in the profession 12 months after they qualify, meaning the majority will have dropped out of the system within a year of qualifying.
The report also says that newly qualified teachers are given a false sense of urgency to secure a first permanent job by universities under pressure to ensure hit their targets for student employability.
Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, said: “Universities are over-emphasising the importance of securing a permanent job. This has two unfortunate results. Some graduates don’t find a permanent job and feel defeated by the process. Instead of looking at other options, like supply teaching, they duck out of the profession altogether. Others panic and take the first job they find – a job which is often not well-matched to their personality traits and skill-set.”
“After a disastrous demotivating year in a role which doesn’t suit them, many teachers leave their first job with less-than-glowing references making it even harder to find the right role second time around – also making them more likely to drop out of the profession. It’s a Catch 22 situation which does newly qualified teachers no favours. There are plenty of other problems that newly qualified teachers face – from government bureaucracy and curriculum changes to the pressure of league tables and problematic pupils, but being panicked into ducking out of the profession or taking on the wrong role shouldn’t be one of them.
