Secondary school staff survey

The aim of this survey was to create a picture of the secondary school teaching workforce in terms of teachers’ qualifications and the curriculum subjects they taught. The results of the survey are comparable with those last produced in 2002. Teachers’ post A-level qualifications were matched to the subjects they taught to demonstrate the proportions of teachers with qualifications relevant to the subjects they delivered in the classroom.

Key points:
- Ninety-six per cent of teachers’ highest post A-level qualification was a degree, a higher degree, a BEd, or a PGCE;
- In thirteen of the twenty nine subject categories used in the survey, over 70% of teachers held a post A-level qualification in a subject relevant to the subject they taught;
• The proportions of teachers with post A-level qualifications in the subjects they taught varied across subjects from less than 20% in some subjects (e.g. Careers Education at 7%) to over 80% in others (e.g. Music at 87%);
• The subjects with the highest proportions of post A-level qualified teachers were Chemistry, Biology and Physics where 90% and over of teachers had post A-level qualifications in relevant subjects; and
• Analysis of the qualification subjects of all science teachers demonstrated the relative proportions of science specialisms within schools, showing that 32% of specialisms were in Biology, 22% were Chemistry, 22% were Physics, 16% were Other Science and 8% were non-science.