New figures have shown that teaching vacancies in primary and secondary schools across Bury rose last year.

Figures from The Association of School and College Leaders said teacher shortages are at a “crisis point” and the government has been urged to address the falling recruitment and retention rates.

Data from teaching jobs site TeachVac shows primary and secondary schools in Bury posted 234 vacancies through its website over the course of last year, up by 24 per cent on 188 the year before.

Out of these, 35 were advertised by primary schools and 199 by secondary schools.

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Across England, teacher vacancies increased significantly in 2022 due to vacancies opening following the coronavirus pandemic.

Job listings on TeachVac increased from 64,283 in 2021 to 107,104 last year.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said the government repeatedly misses trainee recruitment targets, and nearly a third of new teachers leave the profession within five years of qualifying.

Mr Barton said: "This is the result of a decade of real terms pay cuts which have eroded the value of salaries and workload pressures caused by government underfunding of education, leaving staff doing more work with fewer resources.

"If schools cannot put teachers in front of classes, they cannot possibly maintain and improve educational standards.

"The government must work with the profession on a strategy to improve teacher recruitment and retention and back this up with sufficient funding."

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The increase in teacher vacancies through TeachVac was largely driven by state schools, where job advertisements increased by 68 per cent in 2022, compared with 52 per cent for independent schools.

In Bury, state school advertisements jumped by 27 per cent, while private school vacancies remained the same at 18.

Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of teaching trade union NASUWT, said: "The crisis in teacher recruitment and retention is the product of 12 years of failure by a government that has lost the confidence of the teaching profession.

"It is little wonder that the government’s failure to invest in the profession has resulted in many experienced teachers and headteachers quitting the profession prematurely as a consequence of real terms pay cuts and ever-rising workload pressures."

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The Department for Education said there are 24,000 more teachers working in state-funded schools than in 2010.

A spokesperson said tax-free bursaries worth up to £27,000 and a new £3,000 premium encourage trainees to teach subjects including maths, physics, chemistry and computing.

They added: "We are making the highest pay awards in a generation.

“Five per cent for experienced teachers and more for those early in their careers, including an up to 8.9 per cent increase to starting salary."

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