Students opt for teaching careers

More students are choosing teaching as a profession, as latest statistics reveal there were nearly 4,000 new student teachers in Scotland this year – which reflect in the low number of teaching vacancies in Renfrewshire this year.

Permanent full and part time vacancies in primary schools in Scotland fell from 309 in 2017 to 204 this year and from 507 to 402 in secondary schools, according to the Scottish Government

Vacancies over three months fell more sharply, from 136 to 49 in primary and 229 to 148 in secondary.

In the Renfrewshire Council area this year, there were just two pre-school or primary school vacancies, neither of which were for more than three months.

This compares favourably to the same period last year when there were four such vacancies.

Secondary school vacancies numbered two this year, neither of which was for more than three months. This mirrors 2017. The statistics Scotlandwide also show:

Student teacher intake has increased for three years in a row, reaching 3,902 in 2018 compared to 3,376 in 2015-16.

Growth in teacher numbers acro s s a l l STEM subjects ( Science, Technical, Engineering and Mathematics).

Student primary teacher intake rose to 2,082 and exceeded targets for 2018

1,494 student teachers will start at secondary level, up from 1,226 in 2017

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Education is the number one priority for this government and these statistics show the range of measures we are taking is driving a sustained increase in student teachers.

“We have increased targets for recruitment into initial teacher education and created new routes to make it more practical and flexible for people to access courses.

“Our STEM bursary for career changers has contributed to concentrated growth in this area, providing more pupils with the opportunity to be inspired by a teacher with realworld experience, while our recruitment campaign is reaching out to people to highlight the opportunities of a teaching career.

“Fewer teaching vacancies across the country, including significant reductions in jobs advertised for more than three months, also demonstrates the impact of our investment in attracting new talent to the profession.”