Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Dearing (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 17 June 2008.

Schools: Teacher Training

Question: My Lords, the Office for National Statistics has forecast an increase of 500,000 in the number of children of primary school age by 2015, pointing to the need for an extra 3,000 teachers in primary schools a year. Do the Government feel that they can respond to that?

Answer: My Lords, we believe that it will be possible to respond to that. The recruitment for primary school teacher training places has risen from 11,790 in 1997 to 18,320 last year, which is an increase of 55 per cent. As the noble Lord rightly says, with the changes in the pupil cohort we will need more in due course. However, on the basis of our success in recruiting in recent years, I believe that we will be able to meet the additional numbers.

Secondary information