MPs have argued the government has failed to provide sufficient evidence to show opening new grammar schools would improve social mobility and the quality of education for all pupils.

The Department for Education (DfE) has argued that removing the ban on opening new grammars will be a way of making "more good school places available, to more parents, in more parts of the country". The cross-party committee of MPs, responding to the evidence gathered about plans to increase selective education, said ministers still needed to demonstrate how this would improve social mobility and close the gap between rich and poor pupils. Since Theresa May announced her plans to lift the ban on new grammars brought in under Tony Blair’s government there has not been any details on how this might be implemented.    

Last week the Grammar School Heads’ Association published details of a private meeting with education ministers. The document suggests that new grammar schools could open from 2020 and in the meantime there would £150m allocated to expand existing grammars or to introduce grammar steams through academy trusts. There was also a suggestion that these new grammars would be much more selective than traditional grammars, with places for the top 10% of the ability range. Another idea was that there would be a single national entry test for grammars, rather than a range of local tests, with the aim of designing an exam that would be more resistant to coaching by private tutors. 

A DfE spokeswoman said that grammar schools have a "track record of closing the attainment gap to almost zero between children on free school meals and their better off classmates." The spokeswoman said that "99% of grammar schools are rated good or outstanding; and even when you take higher ability intakes into account pupils still perform better in selective schools than in non-selective schools." Labour's shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said: "When even the Conservative-dominated education select committee calls Theresa May's new grammar schools an 'unnecessary distraction', it's time that ministers finally sat up and took notice.” "There is a crisis in teacher recruitment, schools budgets are being cut for the first time in decades and hundreds of thousands of pupils are in super-sized classes.

The Tories should be keeping their pledge to protect school funding rather than pressing ahead with this policy," she said. John Pugh, the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, said: "Instead of ploughing ahead with these divisive plans, Theresa May should address the £3bn funding black hole facing our schools over the next five years." Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, backed the calls for the government to show evidence that new grammars could close the attainment gap - when less than 3% of grammar school entrants are eligible for free school meals. "Until existing grammar schools demonstrate they can be vehicles for social mobility, the number of grammar schools should not be increased," said Sir Peter. Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the report showed the government had lost the argument on grammar schools and called for a rethink of the policy. “To focus on schools that ignore 90% of the population is a massive distraction. To pour millions of pounds into this system when state school budgets are at breaking point is a terrible use of public funds. No other high-performing education system in the world uses selection at 11. It is too late to counter disadvantage. The government would do better to invest more in early years education, where the evidence shows you can make more of an impact on a child’s future prospects.” “There is strong evidence that selection at 11 damages outcomes overall. There is no support for this from school leaders; the plans to expand selection should be rethought entirely.”  

The key to raising school standards is to ensure a high level of teaching is being delivered consistently and effectively. In order to achieve this the Department of Education (DfE) has said it is vital for all teachers to receive the necessary training, however the Teacher Development Trust have highlighted there are 20,000 teachers in schools across England who have no budget to train them.

David Weston, chief executive of the Teacher Development Trust, said the findings were "extremely concerning." The study reports 600 schools have simply had to remove their budget for professional development due to lack of funds. Rising costs and cuts in budgets has meant head teachers are having to juggle where money is being spent.  

The news could not have come at a worse time when the teachers leaving the profession is shamefully increasing year on year. "It is shockingly short-sighted for schools to be slashing these budgets at a time when there is more pressure than ever on recruiting and keeping staff," said Mr Weston. "We work with schools who have invested in this area and seen huge improvements in pupil results and teacher recruitment." He said that investment in professional training should remain a priority and that pupils deserved to be taught by teachers with up-to-date skills. The report found lower-achieving schools were less likely to spend money on training than those which were more performing better. Primary schools spent 0.65% of their budget on staff training while Secondary schools spent much less, 0.37% of their budget. Rising costs and budget cuts means leaves schools with a constant struggle in getting the right balance

Professor Robert Coe, director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University said funding levels for training were "pitifully low."

"Research evidence is very clear that investing in high-quality support for teachers' professional learning is not just one of the most effective things schools can do to raise standards, but one of the best-value choices they can make.” "Cutting spending on CPD, even in a time of tight budgets, would be one of the most counter productive, short-sighted and evidence-averse things a school could do." The deputy head of Quintin Kynaston school in north London, Ross McGill, said it was wrong for schools to be "squeezed into a corner, forced to make a decision to cut, or have no continuous professional development budget available to their staff." He said that the staff development budget was "always the first thing to be cut when unplanned financial circumstances arise throughout the academic year." "With rapid reforms in curriculum, examinations and assessment, every school will need to invest a huge amount of time for all staff to be one step ahead of their students in class," he said.

A DfE spokesman said: "Continued professional development is vital for all teachers to help improve their knowledge and skills.” "Thanks to our investment in school funding, which at more than £40bn in 2016-17 is at its highest level on record, we are giving all schools access to the resources they need.” "We trust heads to make the right decisions for their staff and use those resources to invest in high quality training and development."  

The government is tendering for a £300,000 contract to recruit teachers from Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and the US in a drive to address the shortages of teachers. It comes as the Migration Advisory Committee recommended widening the number of subjects for which schools could recruit from non-EU countries. The committee held back from declaring a national shortage of teachers.

Headteachers, most of whom have been struggling to recruit in all subjects areas, said the committee's findings were "very disappointing indeed". The contract obtained by the BBC states it will focus on recruiting 50 Maths and Physics teachers, the subject areas that have the highest shortages. It involves employing a private company who will support schools in recruiting qualified teachers into English secondary schools. This will then be expanded to other subject areas that schools are struggling to recruit for, most recently it was revealed teachers for Computer Science and Mandarin were on the list.

Of the 21,400 new teachers who began teaching in 2010 a third of them had already quit the profession by 2015. This is a damning record number and since then the situation has worsened. It is thought to be the first government-sponsored international recruitment strategy since the mid-1970s, when teachers were also in short supply. Currently, schools recruit teachers from EU countries without any visa restrictions. However recruiting from outside of the EU is more challenging. Therefore placing these subject teachers on the shortage list effectively makes it easier for schools to recruit them, by lifting immigration controls on them. The Department of Education (DfE) has failed to meet its teaching recruitment levels for five years in a row which has not eased the pressure on schools.

Malcolm Trobe, acting general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was good that the DfE had recognised this was an issue that needed addressing but added: “Fifty teachers in these key subjects is a fairly low target figure given the scale of the problem faced.” The finding that there was no occupation-wide shortage of teachers “flies in the face of the evidence”, he said. “That is the experience of schools up and down the country which are dealing with a full-blown teacher recruitment crisis,” he said. “School leaders are reporting severe difficulties in recruiting staff in many subjects, and they are deeply concerned about the impact on their pupils.” The ASCL had called for the shortage occupation list to be extended in order to make it easier for schools to recruit from outside the European Economic Area to help plug these shortfalls, Mr Trobe said. “It was a shame that schools would be denied this opportunity in many subjects,” he added.

A DfE spokesperson said: "While the MAC's report highlights that there is no shortage of teachers nationally, we recognise there are challenges. That is why we are spending more than £1.3bn over this Parliament to help attract the brightest and best into the profession, including offering generous tax-free bursaries and scholarships in key subjects and through our teacher recruitment campaign: Your Future: Their Future." But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said it was deeply disappointed with the committee's findings, adding that the crisis would get worse with the bulge in pupil numbers, making it hard for schools to find a teacher for every class. The Migration Advisory Committee was asked by then Home Secretary Theresa May to assess whether there was a national shortage of teachers or just a shortage in some subjects.  

The TES have revealed No. 10 have appointed Mike Crowhurst a former History teacher as head of education. Mr Crowhurst has a degree in History from Oxford University and a Masters’ degree in Educational Leadership from Warwick University. He taught at the comprehensive school Kingsbury School and Sports College in Birmingham before joining the free-schools charity the New Schools Network (NSN) where he is currently a director of education. He will stand down from the role as he takes up his new position.  

Theresa May would not have a dedicated adviser on education policy after founding director of NSN, Rachel Wolf, stepped down from the adviser role last summer. But Mr Crowhurst, who used to work for Conservative MP Mike Penning, has now been given the role of head of education in Downing Street. In an article on ConservativeHome in 2010, Mr Crowhurst said: “I believe passionately that education is the most powerful and effective force for change.” “If this is true, then it seems completely unacceptable that our school system should still present such huge differences in opportunity for young people."
He added: “I was lucky enough to go to a state school which gave an excellent education to pupils from a wide variety of backgrounds.” In the same article, he wrote: “In my experience, lack of funds is not the factor holding back schools which are failing to provide the education their pupils deserve. “What is needed is structural change, which will help shape the school system to be more efficient, innovative and professional in the drive for high educational standards.”  

As part of Theresa May’s post Brexit strategy plan the prime minister has unveiled the government is investing £170 million to establish its “Institutes of Technology” strategy. It will work towards tackling Britain’s low productivity compared to other developed countries, something which Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, has prioritised. The plan will include opening a specialist maths school in every town, drawing in experts to raise standards and help create a generation who are numbers savvy.

The free school model will be used building on the Exeter and King’s College London Mathematics Schools. Last year all of the students at Kings College received A stars or As in their maths A levels, making it one of the best performing state schools in the country. Headteachers will receive extra funding to convert to specialist maths status as part of a drive to boost the skills of British pupils.  

Since 2012 the UK has dropped seven places to 27 in its ranking for Mathematics against 70 major countries. The prime minister is keen to make sure youngsters leave school with a proper grasp of maths needed to take a technical course.

Mrs May said: “Our modern industrial strategy is a critical part of our plan for post-Brexit Britain. “As we leave the EU it will help us grasp the bigger prize: the chance to build that stronger, fairer Britain that stands tall in the world and is set-up to succeed in the long-term. And it is a vital step towards building a country where prosperity is shared and there is genuine opportunity for all.” “Our action will help ensure young people develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future.

That means boosting technical education and ensuring we extend the same opportunity and respect we give university graduates to those people who pursue technical routes.” Greg Clark, the Business and Energy Secretary, said: "The UK has some of the best universities in the world and our schools are improving, yet for too long technical education for school leavers has been neglected - with large differences in skill levels between regions.” “We must improve skills and opportunities so we can close the gap between the best people, places and businesses and the rest.” The proposals will be outlined in a government “green paper,” with ministers urging feedback from people and institutions across the UK before deciding how to proceed.  

Cuts to teachers’ pay have contributed to the ongoing teacher recruitment crisis that is threatening standards of education across the country, it is a vicious cycle that see’s no end. If the government continues with its current pay caps it means a 9.3 per cent pay cut in real terms by 2020. The government has said it will limit public sector pay awards to 1 per cent a year to 2019-20. This is in addition to the £3bn cuts schools will face by the end of the decade which will leave many at breaking point.

The TUC’s research charts this pay growth for a range of public sector jobs with given pay levels against the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest inflation forecast. According to its analysis, if inflation continues in line with the OBR’s forecast, then a teacher’s salary of £32,831 in 2015-16 will only be worth £29,767 by 2020-21 in 2016 prices. This would represent a real terms pay cut of £3,064.  

According to the TUC public sector salaries are already £1,000 lower today than they were in 2010. Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, said: “Everyone in the UK has bills to pay, and it’s only fair that wages should at least keep up with rising living costs. Workers in the public sector are already feeling the squeeze, and it seems like there’s worse to come.” She called for public employers to be given the freedom to negotiate with unions over pay in their sectors, rather than having to abide by a blanket national limit.

The TUC also said that pay review bodies needed to be reformed to be “genuinely independent” of government. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT heads union, said that teachers pay was “not keeping pace with other graduate professions”. The government must recognise that, unless they end the policy of real terms pay cuts, we will struggle to attract the best and brightest,” he said. High standards require great teachers. This is an investment in our future, not a short term budget cost, which is why the government’s plans to make schools find £3bn of savings by 2020 are so short-sighted." James Bowen, director of NAHT Edge, said: “Teaching is a very important and highly demanding job, and must be recognised with competitive pay compared to other graduate professions.”

“Teachers don’t do the job to ‘get rich’, but they deserve to be paid fairly for the vital role they play in the country’s future. If we allow pay to continue to fall in real terms and when compared to other graduate careers, we are storing up long-term problems that could damage the quality of education in England.”    

By 2019-2020 schools in England will face cuts of 8% in real terms reports the National Audit Office. In monetary terms, this is a cut of £3bn and ministers have no idea how these will be implemented.

Between 2016-2016 and 2019-2020, schools will lose an average of £339 per Primary pupil and £477 per Secondary pupil. The NAH warned these cuts will put students “educational outcomes at risk.” Furthermore the education services grant, worth £600m, is also being cut, which means there will be less money for local authorities or academies to provide services such as school improvement. Even though the government said school funding would be ringfenced, headteachers are facing a mountain of increased costs: higher contributions to national insurance and teachers’ pensions, the introduction of the “national living wage”, pay rises and the apprenticeship levy. There is no extra money for these, nor is funding per pupil rising in line with inflation.  

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the heads’ union the NAHT, said: “School budgets are being pushed beyond breaking point. The government’s £3 billion real-terms cut to education funding must be reversed or we will see education and care suffer.” “Already heads are being forced to cut staff, cut the curriculum and cut specialist support. A new funding formula is the right thing to do, but it cannot be truly fair unless there is enough money to go round in the first place.” Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the NUT teaching union, said: “Every single MP in England has reason to be worried about our latest analysis, which shows how every constituency will be adversely affected by the government’s recently announced funding proposals. “Schools are already on their knees trying to make ends meet. Budgets have been cut to the bone and decisions such as increasing class sizes and losing staff have already been made.” “To avert this national scandal, government must reassess its plans and make substantial new funding an urgent priority so that all schools have sufficient money to run an effective education system.”  

As headteachers await for a new funding formula for schools in 2018-2019, the Guardian have reported on the views of five headteachers who are already reaching breaking point.  

‘We’ve cut our counsellor’s hours despite suicide attempts’ - Headteacher, West of England
Everything has been cut. We used to spend lots of money on speech therapy, especially in primary, but the number of hours has been cut. Our gangs worker has gone, our drugs worker has gone. These were important people in our area, where students need this support. Our counsellor has had her hours cut. I have a number of students on suicide risk assessments because they have attempted suicide, either at home or at school. For those children, part of their risk assessment is that they see the therapist. Apart from one, who has become a school phobic, they’re all in and attending and mostly succeeding. I think you can attribute that to the therapy. My concern is that there’s a fairly big waiting list of kids who haven’t tried to kill themselves and I can’t get them into therapy, because we haven’t got enough capacity. There’s absolutely no help outside of school. The only thing we haven’t cut is the classroom teachers, but staffing has become leaner. We’ve lost teaching assistants, admin staff, senior leaders and this has included redundancies. If a teaching assistant leaves, we replace them with someone cheaper – fewer hours or less responsibility. In the past three years we’ve lost 25 people. At Christmas time, we used to get theatre companies in to do pantomimes, because a lot of our children’s families just don’t do that sort of thing. It would cost £350 and normally we’d ask for contributions from parents - we’d get £100 in and then we’d top it up. We can’t top it up any more. This year it didn’t happen. The gap between my kids and some of the other schools in the area is widening at a frightening rate. Parents elsewhere are stepping up and paying for things. But in my school I’ve got more than one family per year group where this Christmas the kids didn’t get any presents and they sat in their bedrooms eating sandwiches. I can’t fix that, but I can try to make coming to school as much fun as possible.  

‘I’m running nine-year-old computers’ - David Waugh, Poynton High School, Poynton, Cheshire
I’ve got my training budget for staff down to £10,000 – I have 178 staff and the guidance says it should be around £70,000-£80,000. At a time when the government has changed every course, every exam curriculum, I’m struggling to cope with training my staff and I can’t afford to resource these courses. I have 32 A-levels for my sixth formers at the moment, and I’m putting them into three categories: A-levels I’ll deliver myself, A-levels I’m going to have to find a different way of delivering, and A-levels I will never offer again. Some A-levels, such as music and languages, I may have to run jointly with other schools. I can’t afford my own special needs coordinator [who makes sure pupils with disabilities or special needs get the right support], so I share one with another school. I’m a school of 1,500 and the other school has 1,100 students. I’ve restructured everything. Over the last few years I’ve taken 13.2 full-time equivalent teaching staff out of the system through redundancy and non-replacement of staff. This includes two members of the senior leadership team. I don’t put any money into computers, I’m running nine-year-old computers. There’s not a morose feeling in my school because it’s a bloody good school and people want to stay. But if I were in a different school, with a different demographic, it would be catastrophic. As a local authority area, we are the sixth worst-funded schools in the country. A lot of us have been holding out for the national funding formula to save us. But Cheshire East will become officially the 150th in the list of 150 local authorities under the new funding formula. We’ll go from sixth worst to the worst. I can’t cut back any more.  

‘We can’t offer computer science as we can’t afford a teacher’ - Sean Maher, Richard Challoner school, New Malden, Greater London
Over the last three years we’ve adopted a policy of not replacing staff where we don’t have to, and last year we ended up making four people redundant. It was the most brutal thing I’ve ever had to do, it was just horrible. If you’re in education and you’re working with children you want staff who are happy and pulling together – try doing that and also saying “some of you are losing your jobs”. It has a massive effect on the children. We rely so much on our teachers; we’re an outstanding school and do loads and loads of wider curricular activities. Staff do that without charge, through goodwill. They’re not going to keep doing things like that if morale isn’t high. We’ve had to look at our curriculum offer and say “well we can’t offer computer science to this year group because we can’t replace that member of staff. With these new courses coming out across A-levels and GCSE, staff are coming to me and saying “I want £2,500 to buy a new set of textbooks”. I say “no, I can’t afford them, find another way to do it”. With everything, you’re just trying to find ways of penny pinching. If something in the building breaks we won’t fix it unless we have to. We’ve been told there’s no more money in the pot. One of the things I find galling is that when the prime minister decides she has a policy she wants to announce, like let’s have more grammar schools, they suddenly find millions to set up new grammar schools. Education is at a tipping point – I really do think if we do not sort out the funding problem and the recruitment crisis, then within two to three years the whole system could implode. Fantastic, dedicated classroom practitioners will just turn around and say: I’m not going to carry on doing this job any more, not for this money, not for this workload, not with this amount of stress.  

‘No wonder teachers are leaving, they’ve had enough’ - Primary Head, Cambridgeshire
We are running on a skeleton staff. We have some classes of 34; we went up to 35 at one point because we couldn’t afford to open a new class. We have a boy in a wheelchair who needs one-to-one support but he’s not funded for one-to-one, so I’m pulling staff from other classes who should be supporting other children. We haven’t got enough staff. You end up with a teacher with 34 children in a class, with many with special needs and medical problems, and you don’t get medical support [which used to pay for a member of staff to be specially trained] any more. We have a child with diabetes who keeps passing out; we don’t get any medical funding to support her. No wonder teachers are leaving; they’ve had enough. Over the last two to three years I’ve been really prudent with the budget, but next year we’ll start going into deficit. We don’t use teachers for supply any more; we use higher level teaching assistants. We used to have a capital budget [which pays for improvements to the school premises] that was quite large; now it’s £6,000. I’ve had to apply to the local authority to have my roof replaced and I’ve got to provide the first £15,000. I’ve got to find the money somehow. That means next year I won’t be able to spend anything on my curriculum budgets – literacy resources, numeracy resources, IT spending and so on. Some schools have a dedicated family liaison person, but none of the schools in Cambridgeshire does because we just can’t afford it. I’m sitting here counselling the same parents week on week, having massive arguments with them about attendance, because I’m going to be judged on attendance. I’m constantly referring cases to social services – who say it doesn’t meet the threshold.  

‘I worry about asking parents for money’ - Helen Longton Howorth, Carden Primary, Brighton
In Brighton we’ve got a peculiar situation where in the city centre, schools – the more middle-class schools – are full, but on the outskirts our funding problem is that we’re not full. I’ve got 100 or so places that I can’t fill. You get £3,000 per child, so you’re looking at £300,000 I’m already down on my budget before you’re even thinking about funding cuts. We’re only not in deficit because I have a good business manager and we’re spending absolutely no money. We don’t hire supply teachers, we have one person who is in-house supply. If anybody is off sick we tend to split classes or use learning mentors to cover because we can’t afford supply teachers. Heaven forbid if anybody goes long-term sick leave because that would tip the budget into the red. It’s a massive worry. I’m spending a lot of time thinking creatively about how to make money. We are having to make ourselves into marketable commodities – we’re thinking all the time about how to creatively raise funds, divert funds or not spend funds. Our PTA and fundraising events are funding our equipment. All the computers are funded through the PTA. At Christmas, the children all made decorations in class and sold them to parents. We filmed the school play ourselves, spent the weekend burning many, many DVDs, sold them cheaply to parents, and we made £600 from things like that. That went to pay for resources to use in lessons. You worry about the fact that, for example, we charge parents £1 a ticket to come and watch the children’s play. It’s come to the point that you’re having a conversation with teachers about whether they can afford to buy a set of Pritt Sticks before the end of the financial year – that’s quite ridiculous.    

Not once, not twice, not thrice but five years in a row the government has failed in its teaching recruitment; adding even more pressure on schools. The last ten years has seen the highest rate of teachers leaving the teaching profession, this comes as a blow for the Conservatives who have failed to reach their own target for new recruits.

Subjects such as maths and science that are key boosting the UK’s competitiveness are among the worst hit. Other subjects that fell 15% of their targets are physics, design and technology, computing and business studies. The only subjects that met the required recruitment levels were PE, history, biology, geography, English and chemistry – albeit the latter two narrowly missed them. About 6,000 trainee teachers began courses after achieving a 2:2 or lower in their degree subject, and less than half of trainees are studying for their qualifications in universities. Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said it amounted to a teacher training crisis that would lead to shortages. “Every year the government miss their targets and it’s subjects that are crucial to our future economy that are worst hit,” she said. “The Tories really need to get a grip on this. They are failing in their most basic job in education – providing enough teachers for our schools.” In their defence, the latest figures from the Department of Education (DfE) showed that teaching still continued to be an attractive career. “Secondary postgraduate recruitment is at its highest level since 2011 and we have recruited more trainees in key subjects including physics, maths, modern foreign languages, biology, chemistry and geography than we did last year,” said a DfE spokeswoman. “The quality of new entrants also continues to be high, with 18% of this year’s cohort again holding a first-class degree – the highest on record and up from 10% in 2010-11. This shows that teaching is as popular as ever among the most talented graduates. “But we recognise that there are challenges, which is why we are investing more than £1.3bn over this parliament so we can continue to attract the brightest and best into teaching.” Recruitment was up by 12% in maths this year compared with last year, and by 15% in physics.  

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has previously expressed its concern over the problems with excessive workload and pay cuts that are leading to the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention. Last year government figures showed a third of teachers who started a teaching career in 2010 left the profession within five years. More than 50,000 teachers left the profession before retirement last year, the highest number for more than a decade. More teachers are leaving the job than joining, a third of teachers who started a teaching career in 2010 left the profession within five years.  

Unprotected budget
Schools will need to tighten their belts even more so over the coming years. School budgets have not been protected in real terms nor will it increase in this parliament. The DfE estimates that schools will need to find savings, or cuts, of £3 billion, equivalent to an 8 per cent real-terms reduction in per-pupil funding between 2014-15 and 2019-20. For primary schools, that could add up to a cut, per pupil, of £447 a year, and for secondary schools, it could reach £658 a year, per pupil. These cuts will hit staff (we are already seeing some the effects already) with the overall impact on every child.  

Glimpse of hope
There is a glimpse of hope from the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) who received over 21,000 registrations of interest in teaching in the last academic year. Routes into teaching are open that ever, however unless the fundamental issues that are driving current teachers out are not fixed, how will the new generation of teachers cope?  

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) have released data to show January was the busiest month in the 2015-2016 academic year, with just over 21,000 registrations of interest in teaching; 14,000 of these were from people working in other industries.

As people start to make changes and set out their new year’s resolutions, one of the biggest moves people make is in their job. If people are unhappy in their current job January is the time they will start to think about other options of which a career change into teaching is one of them. The NCTL’s Get into Teaching website experienced the sharpest rise in traffic during the New Year period, with 400,000 unique web users visiting the site in January 2016 - higher than any month of the year. In the previous year January 2015 there was also more than 10,000 registrations of interest. More than 6,200 people aged 30 or over started initial teacher training in 2016-17 - the highest number of trainees aged 30 or over since 2012-13. This is positive news for the Education industry that has failed to meet the necessary recruitment levels for the fifth year in a row. A shortage in maths, physics, deisgn and technology, computing and business studies fell by 15% of their targets. Worryingly, the decline of support staff over the last decade means teachers have been left with higher responsibilities and workload than ever before. The NCTL is expecting a surge this year support with a series of roadshows highlighting the advantages a teaching profession offers. A television advertising campaign to attract more people in becoming teachers was launched by the Department of Education (DfE) at the start of the year.      

Roger Pope, chair of the NCTL, said: "As a new year begins, we know that a lot of people will be thinking about their careers and whether there's something else out there for them. "Every year, we see an influx of people who change career into teaching, bringing a wealth of experience to help inspire the next generation.” "For those considering finding out more about teaching, our online events are an easily accessible way of deciding on the next step.” "This year you could begin changing hundreds of futures for the better, starting with your own." However, the NAHT heads' union said the government needed to do more to solve a “crisis” in teacher recruitment and retention, pointing out that eight out of 10 school leaders report difficulty with recruitment across all roles. Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, said: “Whilst January may well be the most popular month for people to consider a career switch into teaching, the government is still falling short in its duty to guarantee enough teachers of a high enough standard to match the growing school population.” He added: “The answer to the recruitment crisis is staring the government in the face: we need a nationally coordinated approach to fill every vacancy with a high quality professional, and attractive terms and conditions to keep teachers in the profession for longer.” “The solution starts with reversing the £3bn of cuts that schools face and by using the new national funding formula to guarantee that the total education budget is sufficient before it is allocated to schools.” In October 2016, the government revealed that one-third of teachers who began their career in 2010 quit the classroom within five years of qualifying.    

The New Year Honours list 2017 recognises the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people across the UK. This year 1,197 people have received an award, each recipient exemplifying the very best of our nation, 10% of honours are for work in education. The proportion of medals handed to academy trust bosses and executive heads has also risen this year – with 11 handed out this year compared to eight last year.

The highest formal honour went to Helen Fraser, former head of the Girls Day School Trust, who will become a Dame. She is the only person from the schools community to receive the highest honour level which was handed to four education leaders in the 2016 list.

Dame Helen has been a long-standing supporter girls’ take-up of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects and while chief executive of the GDST for six and a half years, saw the numbers of girls receiving full bursaries double.

Dame Helen said she was "surprised and delighted" to be recognised in the New Year's Honours List. "I feel it’s wonderful for me personally and for the GDST for all of the hard work we do and other girls schools for the advancement of girls, not only in education but in their adult lives. I am very thrilled," she said.

Baroness Mary Warnock, 92, has been made a companion of honour whose work transformed the education of children with special education needs. Her work led to the introduction of statementing, which gives children with special educational needs an entitlement to special support, ensuring that they could be educated in mainstream schools alongside their peers.

Six leading figures in education received a Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE):

• Hardip Singh Begol, director of independent education, safeguarding in schools and counter extremism, Department for Education. For services to Education.
• Dr Jonathan Clark, executive headteacher of Beckmead Family of Schools in Croydon. For services to Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
• Seamus Michael Oates, chief executive officer and executive headteacher, Tri-borough Alternative Provision Multi Academy Trust. For services to Education.
• Roger John Pope, longstanding TES columnist, chief executive officer of Academies South West Multi-Academy Trust and executive principal of Kingsbridge Community College, Devon. For services to Education.
• Nigel Paul Richardson, lately director of Children's Services, Leeds City Council. For services to Children and Families. (Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire).
• Dr Margaret Ann Whalley, MBE, lately director of research, training and development at Pen Green Training and Development Centre in Northamptonshire. For services to Education.

The Honours Education Committee has also recommended many other educationists, heads and teachers as recipients of OBEs and MBEs.