Teacher demand and postgraduate trainee need
Academic year 2026/27

Description

The ‘Teacher demand and postgraduate initial teacher training trainee need’ publication provides:

- The latest number of teachers DfE estimates is required in service to meet the demands of future pupil numbers.
- The time series data for postgraduate initial teacher training trainee need.

Coverage

Teacher demand trajectories are provided separately for state-funded primary schools and state-funded secondary schools across England.

Postgraduate initial teacher training trainees required to start training in the 2026 to 2027 academic year across England are provided for primary and each secondary subject.

Files formats and conventions

Data has been provided in a csv file format.

The ‘x’ symbol has been used in the underlying data file to represent ‘not available’ meaning that the statistic cannot be produced due to not be able to calculate a year-on-year difference due to the previous year’s data not being available.

Data files

2026-27 PGITT trainee need

Filename: pgitt_need_202627_timeseries.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2021/22 to 2026/27
Content summary: PGITT trainee need time series data.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                        |  Variable description
-----------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------------------
difference_to_previous_year_count    |  Difference to previous year
difference_to_previous_year_percent  |  Percentage change to previous year
pgitt_trainee_need_count             |  Postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) trainee need
subject                              |  ITT subject

Footnotes:

1. Postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) trainee need has been rounded to the nearest 5.
2. ‘Others’ includes Child Development, Citizenship, Law, Media Studies, Other Social Studies, Other Technology, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, and Social Sciences among others.


Teacher demand trajectories

Filename: teacher_demand_trajectory_timeseries.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2010/11 to 2027/28
Content summary: Historical teachers and demand trajectories, by phase. Covering both qualified and unqualified teachers.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                        |  Variable description
-----------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------
actual_or_traj                       |  Actuals or trajectory
difference_to_previous_year_count    |  Difference to previous year
difference_to_previous_year_percent  |  Percentage change to previous year
education_phase                      |  Phase
teacher_demand_count                 |  Teacher demand trajectory

Footnotes:

1. Demand is quoted in terms of full time equivalent (FTE).
2. Demand includes both qualified and unqualified teachers.
