“The most important thing is that apprentices continue to receive high-quality support and training during their course so that the profession has confidence in employing them once they have achieved QTS. The reason why there are such a limited number of apprenticeship places available is largely due to the demand they place on employers. There are workload implications for the school as a whole, as well as individual teachers and the apprentice themselves, and this needs to be supported with appropriate investment. Shortening the apprenticeship so that it is contained within a single academic year will make this easier to accommodate, but the fact remains that apprenticeships are only a suitable route into teaching for a relatively small number of people.
“We also need to be looking at ways to encourage people into teaching via other routes. Ensuring pay and conditions are comparable to other graduate professions will be a big part of this.
“While we welcome the fact the government is looking at new strategies to boost teacher recruitment, they are going to need to go much further than this. It is not going to be possible to solve the recruitment and retention crisis on the cheap.”