HC Deb 03 May 1995 vol 259 c231W
Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what mechanisms her Department now uses to forecast the numbers of teachers needed over the next decade. [22191]

Mr. Robin Squire

The Department's targets for intakes to initial teacher training courses are based on supply and demand models which take account of a range of data, including the number and age of the existing teacher force, movements into and out of teaching, and demographic trends.

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the current figures for unfilled teaching posts. [22192]

Mr. Robin Squire

The latest figures for unfilled teaching posts in England—January 1994—are given in the table. Figures for teacher vacancies are not yet available for 1995.

Number of Vacancies1 Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post
Primary/Nursery 762 0.4
Secondary 624 0.4
Total 1,386 0.4
1 Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis.

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what over-capacity there currently is in teacher supply. [22193]

Mr. Robin Squire

There are currently some 365,000 qualified teachers under 55 in England who are not serving as full-time teachers in maintained nursery, primary or secondary schools.

In terms of future supply, the Teacher Training Agency was advised in November 1994 of the Secretary of State's targets for initial teacher training for 1995–96 to 1997–98. These envisage an 11 per cent. increase in secondary targets over this period, but with a similar reduction in primary targets.