Only 40% of new teachers in Wales find job, GTCW says

Only four out of 10 newly-qualified teachers in Wales land substantive jobs in primary or secondary schools after training, according to new figures.

The General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) said almost the same proportion of new teachers (37.5%) were having to rely on supply work.

In 2003, nearly seven in 10 (66%) secured a first job after qualifying.

The Welsh Government said teacher recruitment and the use of supply teachers was a matter for schools.

The GTCW said the number of new teachers landing their first job had dropped 6% over the previous year and was the continuation of a falling trend over the past decade.

It has drawn the figures from the Wales' teaching register, which has nearly 39,000 people registered as eligible to teach in state schools.

GTCW deputy chief executive Hayden Llewellyn said the figures came against a background of "a little fluctuation over the years".

He said: "There is now a very clear trend towards newly-qualified teachers failing to get substantive jobs and having to register with agencies in order to get temporary and intermittent work as supply teachers at various different schools."

The Welsh Government said Education Minister Leighton Andrews had recently announced a 20-point plan to reform education in Wales which included a review of teacher training in Wales.

A spokesperson said: "Alongside this work we are also evaluating the number of Welsh [teacher training] places we fund in the future.

"The latest (2008/09) published figures show that, for students completing [teacher training] courses in Wales whose teaching activity was known six months after graduation, 81% were in a teaching post, which includes supply work.

"A further 13% were seeking a teaching post and 7% were not seeking a teaching post."

The GTCW register has been published annually since 2002 and covers a range of indicators including the age, gender, ethnicity, qualifications and disability status of teachers and head-teachers.