“This report reflects the scale of the challenge the new government faces in meeting its target to recruit 6,500 new teachers.
“While we welcome that commitment, the stark reality is that even this number of teachers is unlikely to be sufficient to address the level of shortages which schools and colleges are currently experiencing.
“This is the result of years of pay erosion and workload pressures created by the previous government’s dismal record of expecting ever more of schools and colleges while failing to provide them with sufficient funding and resources.
“Improved pay and conditions across the profession are the absolute prerequisites for any strategy. It is vital to ensure that salaries are competitive enough to attract recruits and then retain them.
“The new government has taken a step in the right direction with this year’s school teachers’ pay award but this will need to be followed up by further improvements in future years.
“And it is extremely regrettable that it has failed to fund pay increases for teachers in colleges where there are also significant shortages and which are vital to the government’s aim of boosting skills. We call upon the Treasury to remedy this inequity as a matter of urgency.”