‘Low Salaries and Lack of Glamour’ Deter Graduates

Schools are failing to attract the best graduates because the teaching profession lacks “glamour”, research suggests.

The majority of undergraduates and professionals see teaching as similar to social work and nursing, rather than more high-status careers like medicine or law.

The report, by leading think tank Policy Exchange, found that 57 per cent of professionals and 51 per cent of undergraduates compare teaching to nursing. It also found that the lack of a good salary was a major deterrent for many, with 16.8 per cent of undergraduates and 20.3 per cent of professionals polled citing it as a reason for not entering the profession.

It suggests that while teaching is still widely seen as a “noble” profession, “low salaries and a lack of glamour deter good graduates from teaching”.

The report adds: “School teaching involves less glamour and drama than either medicine or law.”

But the National Union of Teachers (NUT) claimed the report did a “massive disservice” to teachers and those in caring professions. John Bangs, head of education at the NUT, said: “All those in these professions have made a massive commitment to make a difference to people’s lives and to talk about some kind of artificially created hierarchy is very wrong.”

The More Good Teachers report suggests that “the relative low status of teaching inevitably affects the quantity and quality of entrants to the profession”.

It found that students accepted on teacher training degree courses had lower A-level results than students beginning any other degree, with the exception of art.

Of those accepted to post-graduate training courses in 2005/06, 2,000 were accepted with a third or pass in their degree and 34 per cent had been awarded a 2:2. It is not only possible to get on a course with a poor academic record, it is also “very difficult” to fail, suggesting standards are too low, the report says.

A total of 87 per cent of trainees passed in 2005/06, with only 2.7 per cent failing to meet the required standards or the basic skills tests which are equivalent to grade C in GCSE English, maths and IT.

Mr Bangs said it was wrong to judge a candidate who had passed their teacher training by their A-level scores.

He said: “They have made a massive mistake of assuming that because someone goes into an undergraduate course with a particular level of A-level grades that’s what you’re going to be like when you come out. That somehow you are going to be the same person and that you’re defined by your A-level grades. I’d much rather rely on Ofsted and that newly qualified teachers are the best we’ve ever had.”

The report recommends scrapping the Bachelor of Education degree because it attracts the weakest academic candidates and replacing it with employment or school-based training routes.

The first “Teach Now” would be the main route for people to train entirely in schools and the second “Teach Next” would be a more specialised route for senior managers and professionals.

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