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Teacher Vacancies and Probationer Allocations 2007
26/06/2007
The latest annual survey of teacher and educational psychologist vacancies, was published today.
Most vacancies occur at the end of the school year, but this survey measures the level of vacancies during term time in order to indicate any possible areas of shortage, and it should not be mistaken for the number of job opportunities for new graduates.
The main findings are:
- There were 695 teacher vacancies advertised at February 2007, equivalent to 1.4 per cent of the full teaching complement. The number of vacancies had decreased from 774 in 2006
- There were 138 advertised posts which had been vacant for more than three months, 20 per cent of vacancies, and equivalent to 0.3 per cent of the full teaching complement. This number of these vacancies has decreased from 245 in 2006
- Vacancy rates were 1.2 per cent in primary (0.2 per cent for more than three months) and 1.5 per cent in secondary (0.3 per cent for more than three months)
- Drama and English were the subject areas with the highest vacancy rates, with 3.4 and 2.2 per cent respectively (0.7 and 0.4 per cent respectively for more than 3 months). Vacancies amongst additional support needs teachers in secondary schools was 3.0 per cent, though this figure is affected by differing reporting procedures among local authorities
- In Maths the vacancy rate was 2.0 per cent (up from 1.3 per cent in 2006). Vacancies lasting for more than three months were 0.2 per cent, equating to six vacancies
- As at June 18 there were 3,858 probationer teachers provisionally allocated to publicly funded schools for 2007/08, 88 per cent of whom were allocated to their first or second choice authorities
The vacancy information in this statistical publication notice is derived from the February 2007 teacher and educational psychologist vacancy survey. It includes vacancies that had been advertised for permanent appointments or appointments of at least one term's duration, which existed at February 23.
An annual teacher workforce planning exercise is carried out to help determine the number of places required in teacher training institutions. The vacancies information collected in this survey informs this process in monitoring teacher supply and in setting priorities in subject areas.
Vacancy rates have been calculated using figures for the teaching complement supplied as part of the survey. Comparison of these complement figures with the results of the teacher census show an undercount of the workforce reported in the vacancy survey. This means that true vacancy rates are in some cases likely to be very slightly lower than those shown here, though generally there is at most 0.1 per cent difference.
Vacancies for special classes have not been treated consistently between local authorities. Some have included such vacancies (and the workforce complement) in the sectors in which they are integrated, whereas others have been included in the special school sector.
The probationer information in this statistical publication notice is the number of probationers that were allocated to each authority as at June 18, 2007. Final placements may be different where students decide not to take up their allocation to a particular authority.