HC Deb 08 November 1982 vol 31 cc35-9W
Mr. Dobson

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why he set aside the advice of the advisory committee for the supply and education of teachers and of the national advisory body in respect of the number of secondary teacher training places to be made available.

Mr. Waldegrave

In its initial advice in 1981 the advisory committee on the supply and education of teachers offered as a desideratum that there should be a reasonable match between the output of the teacher training system and the employment prospects of newly trained teachers, and we accepted this. The committee's subsequent advice, in May 1982, recommended levels of entry to secondary courses in 1983, 1984 and 1985 which would have produced an average annual output of some 8,000 secondary teachers seeking jobs in a period for which the committee had projected an average annual demand of about 4,700.

The proposals we have made would result in an average annual output of some 7,100 newly trained secondary teachers seeking jobs, a more than adequate safety margin. It would be quite wrong for the teacher training system to preempt a much greater share of limited resources for higher education than can be justified by the needs of the schools. The national advisory body did not offer advice on the overall number of secondary places which should be made available.

Mr. Lawrence

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet reached final decisions about the allocation of entry targets in 1983, 1984 and 1985 to institutions concerned with initial teacher training; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Keith Joseph

In May the Secretary of State for Wales and I received advice from the advisory committee on the supply and education of teachers about the initial teacher-training system. We were grateful for the care with which the committee examined the issues and the clarity with which they set out their recommendations. We accepted the committee's conclusions that there should be a rapid expansion of admissions to primary training in 1983, 1984 and 1985, accompanied by a reduction in entry to secondary courses. We proposed, subject to satisfactory translation into institutional terms, that total planned entries to initial teacher training in England and Wales should be reduced from 20,200 in 1981 to 15,200 in 1983, 16,300 in 1984 and 16,900 in 1985.

These proposed totals were distributed between undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and between the university and publicly maintained sectors. The University Grants Committee is considering the allocation of intake targets to individual universities. In relation to public sector institutions in England my Department made provisional proposals on 6 August subject to a period of consultation with institutions and other interests. I am grateful to institutions and their maintaining authorities or voluntary bodies for their co-operation during this period.

I have now decided that the allocation of intake targets to public sector institutions in England should be as set out below. These decisions differ from the provisional proposals in a number of respects, principally that initial teacher training should continue at the Polytechnic of North London, Bishop Grosseteste college and Newman college, and for the training of secondary art teachers at Leicester polytechnic. The Secretary of State for Wales and I have concluded that there should be consequent changes to the overall entry targets for the public sector in England but not for Wales or the universities.

Total planned admissions for England and Wales will now be:

1983 1984 1985
Primary BEd:
Universities 2500 250 250
Public sector 5,100 5,900 6,200
Primary PGCE:
Universities 400 500 600
Public sector 1,150 1,350 1,550
Secondary BEd:
Universities 250 250 250
Public sector 1,600 1,600 1,600
Secondary PGCE:
Universities 4,250 4,250 4,250
Public sector 2,650 2,650 2,650
Totals:
Universities 5,150 5,250 5,350
Public sector 10,500 11,500 12,000

Note:

(1) BEd includes other undergraduate courses leading to qualified teacher status and similarly PGCE includes other one-year courses.

(2) The public sector figures cover voluntary colleges and institutions maintained by local education authorities.

In concluding that there should be a further increase in primary intakes we took into account that the projected demand for primary teachers justified this, that ACSET had recommended expansion as rapidly as was compatible with the maintenance of good quality and that institutions have since shown a willingness to do more than ACSET's best judgment at the time. We have accepted this but the decision is subject to review in two years' time in the light of actual recruitment levels.

My Department has written today to institutions. I recognise that these decisions may lead to some unavoidable redundancies among teaching staff. In this context I would call further attention to the Answer which I gave to the question by my hon. Friend the Member for Bridlington (Mr. Townend) on 4 November. Teachers aged 50 and over who lose their posts because of redundancy qualify for statutory minimum redundancy payments and for the existing premature retirement compensation terms. Those arrangements will continue to apply.

Additionally, because of the substantial reduction in advanced further education teaching (including colleges of education) that is expected over the next few years, I have decided to allow local education authorities and governors of voluntary and direct grant colleges in England and Wales discretion to offer improved terms to teachers aged 41 to 49 in advanced further education for the period of the academic years 1982 to 1985. The new maximum payment will be 66 weeks' pay, subject to age and length of service.

Summary Of The Decisions

1. a. Initial teacher training will cease at the following institutions:

  • Huddersfield polytechnic
  • North-East London polytechnic
  • North Staffordshire polytechnic
  • Teesside polytechnic
  • Thames polytechnic
  • Dorset institute of higher education
  • New college, Durham
  • North Cheshire college
  • Liverpool college of higher education
  • De La Salle college

Public Sector Institutions Voluntary Colleges
1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1985
Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation
Bishop Grosseteste — 90 — 120 — 120
Chester 20 90 20 110 20 110
Christ Church 52 120 52 140 52 155
Derby Lonsdale.—See Matlock.
Goldsmiths 225 140 225 155 225 160
Homerton 92 110 92 130 92 130
King Alfred's 77 125 77 160 77 165
La Sainte Union — 140 — 165 — 180
Liverpool IHE 90 170 90 190 90 215
Newman — 90 — 120 — 120
Ripon and York St. John 58 130 58 140 58 150
Roehampton IHE 157 300 157 365 157 390
St. Mark and St. John 50 60 50 60 50 65
St. Martin's 92 90 92 110 92 125
St. Mary's Tottenham 105 60 105 70 105 70
St. Paul and St. Mary 89 115 89 130 89 135
Trinity and All Saints 85 65 85 100 85 110
West London IHE 87 105 87 125 87 130
West Sussex IHE 60 105 60 120 60 125
West Hill 10 50 10 75 10 90
Westminster 35 80 35 100 35 110
Total 1,384 2,235 1,384 2,685 1,384 2,855
Public Sector Institution OTI Maintained Establishments
Avery Hill 147 110 147 125 147 140
Bath CHE 125 120 125 130 125 130
Bedford CHE 95 60 95 70 95 70
Ilkley 20 135 20 135 20 140
Bretton Hall CHE 95 55 95 70 95 75
Bulmershe CHE 30 150 30 155 30 160
Charlotte Mason — 90 — 105 — 110
Chelmer IHE — 95 — 110 — 110
Crewe, Alsager CHE 130 100 130 120 130 135
Edge Hill CHE 47 175 47 200 47 220
Hertfordshire CHE 30 135 30 160 30 185
Hull CHE 40 75 40 75 40 80
Manchester CHE.—See Manchester Polytechnic.
Matlock with Derby Lonsdale 10 115 10 130 10 145
Nene College — 90 — 125 — 140
North Riding CHE — 110 — 125 — 130
Rolle College 15 120 15 130 15 145
W. Midlands CHE 40 95 40 110 40 125
Worcester CHE 100 70 100 85 100 85
Total 924 1,900 924 2,160 924 2,325
Public Sector Institution Polytechnics
Birmingham 115 95 115 100 115 105
Brighton 195 120 195 135 195 140
Bristol 95 110 95 135 95 150
Kingston 30 100 30 115 30 130
Leeds 160 95 160 115 160 120

b. In agreement with the Manchester local education authority initial teacher training presently at Manchester polytechnic and the city of Manchester CHE will be concentrated on the polytechnic.

c. In agreement with the Derbyshire LEA initial teacher training at Matlock CHE and Derby Lonsdale CHE will be merged.

d. In Liverpool the LEA's initial teacher training will be centred on Liverpool polytechnic but the final allocation provides for the transfer of some of the city of Liverpool CHE's present initial teacher training to the polytechnic.

e. Leicester polytechnic will continue to offer postgraduate training for secondary art teachers but will cease other forms of initial teacher training.

f. In due course a significant centre of teacher education and training should be built up in the North-East: its location and size will be determined later.

2. Details of the allocations to institutions are set out in the following table.

Public Sector Institutions Voluntary Colleges
1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1985
Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation Sec. Allocation Prim. Allocation
Leicester 50 — 50 — 50 —
Liverpool 170 50 170 50 170 50
Manchester with Manchester CHE 257 165 257 190 257 210
Middlesex 130 75 130 100 130 110
Newcastle 65 80 65 95 65 95
North London 20 70 20 70 20 70
Oxford — 115 — 135 — 150
Portsmouth — 75 — 90 — 95
Sheffield 155 110 155 145 155 160
South Bank 60 70 60 80 60 80
Sunderland 50 60 50 70 50 80
Trent 95 150 95 180 95 180
Wolverhampton 90 55 90 55 90 55
Total 1,737 1,595 1,737 1,860 1,737 1,980