GCSE pupils had 75 million lessons with non-specialist teachers

22 Aug 2023

EMBARGO: 00:01 Wednesday 23rd August

The Liberal Democrats have accused the Government of letting thousands of pupils down, after analysis by the party reveals over 75 million lessons for GCSE pupils getting their results this week were taught by non-specialist teachers.

The data shows that the average GCSE pupil will have had one in 10 lessons with a teacher who is not a specialist in that subject over the past two years.

12.2% of maths lessons over the two years were taught by teachers without any post-A level qualification in maths, despite it being a core GCSE subject that students are required to pass. Modern languages also had a high percentage with 19.9% of GCSE lessons in two years being taught by a non-specialist.

This year the government failed to meet its teacher training recruitment targets for the ninth time in 10 years, achieving just 59 percent of the target for secondary teacher trainee entrants starting courses.

Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to develop a teacher workforce strategy, reform teacher pay and introduce a new teacher development programme to ensure more children are taught by a subject specialist.

Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:

"Teachers should be experts in their field to ensure students are engaged, inspired and equipped to succeed.

"But this Conservative Government has let our children down by missing recruitment targets year after year, allowing experienced teachers to leave in their droves.

“Liberal Democrats know that investing in schools and teachers is vital to give every child the chance to thrive. The Government must urgently put in place a proper schools workforce strategy to ensure we have the specialist teachers our children need."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Methdology

This table shows the percentage of hours that each subject was taught by a teacher without any relevant post-A level qualification in state-funded secondary schools.

Table for a ‘typical’ GCSE student:

Subject	% of time taught by non specialist 2021/2	% of time taught by non specialist 2022/3	Average % of time being taught by a non specialist over two years	Number of lessons per student taught by non specialist
Mathematics	11.6%	12.8%	12.2%	14.64
English Language	7.4%	7.9%	7.65%	9.18
English Literature	7.4%	7.9%	7.65%	9.18
Combined Science (counts as two GCSEs)	4.5%	4.9%	4.7%	5.64 5.64
French	18.8%	21%	19.9%	23.88
Geography	9.9%	11.4%	10.65%	12.78
History	7.1%	6.7%	6.9%	8.28
Religious Education	24.6%	25.8%	25.2%	30.24
Art and Design	3.5%	3.7%	3.6%	4.32
				123.78 out of 1200 lessons taught by a non specialist

The full data set, collected by the Department for Education, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/339a3889-41a3-4bf9-7788-08db997aeba0

Using the 9 most popular GCSE subjects as listed here (combined science is 2 GCSEs)

Most exam boards recommend between 120-140 hours of guided learning for each GCSE subject. We have used the lowest number of hours of guided learning per GCSE of 120 hours (source).

At the beginning of this academic year there were 612,204 pupils aged 15 on 31 August 2022 who were studying at state-funded secondary, special and alternative provision schools and non-maintained special schools. (Source)

Multiplying this figure by 123.78 gives a total number of lessons taught by a non specialist of 75,778,611.

Missed teacher recruitment target data: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-misses-secondary-teacher-recruitment-target-by-over-40/

This cohort of pupils have also faced unprecedented disruption to their education through the pandemic and teacher strikes. These challenges have not been addressed by this Government who have refused to invest in comprehensive COVID catch-up programs.

Less than half of school leaders will sign up for the Government’s National Tutoring Programme next year. Most of these are quitting the programme because they say that their school can no longer afford it.