IOP responds to physics teacher recruitment figures

Responding to the publication of the annual Initial Teacher Training Census by the Department for Education, the chief executive of the Institute of Physics, Tom Grinyer, said: “Today’s teacher recruitment figures show the situation in physics education is starting to improve from 17% in 2023 to 30% in 2024 of the government’s target for trainee physics teachers being recruited in England.

“However, physics still lags behind other comparable subjects with 119% in biology and 62% in chemistry.

“While we are heading in the right direction, the government has committed to recruiting 6,500 additional teachers, but it remains unclear how this will be achieved. We estimate there is a shortage of around 3,500 physics teachers across England alone.

“This postcode lottery of access to a specialist a physics teacher harms young people’s chances, is bad for teachers, and holds back our economy.

“The government needs to set out how many of its 6,500 commitment to new teachers will be physics specialists and we urgently need a clear plan for how this will actually be delivered, through recruiting, retraining and retaining the next generation of physics specialists.”

Data is for the 2024-25 academic year.