Initial Teacher Training Census
The initial teacher training (ITT) census is collected annually and counts trainees registered on a course on the second Wednesday in October. The collection generally remains open until the first week of November to allow providers time to input and check their records.
Data is collected from the Database of Trainee Teachers and Providers (DTTP). This is a live system on which providers can change their entries throughout the year, using the HESA, portal or register interface. This statistical release therefore includes both the revised data for the previous training year, for which provisional data were published last year, and provisional data for the latest training year. Figures for historical years in the time series have not been revised.
The initial teacher training census covers first year initial teacher trainees in England. The statistical release includes provisional figures for the training year of the statistical release, and revises finalised figures for the previous training year.
The Code of Practice for Official Statistics requires that reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that all published or disseminated statistics produced by the Department for Education protects confidentiality.
To do this small numbers are suppressed for sensitive characteristics and for very small providers.
This suppression approach is consistent with the Department's statistical policy. Symbols used to identify this approach in published tables are as follows:
c Small number suppressed to preserve confidentiality
z Not applicable
Data for the ITT census were completed, reviewed and signed-off by providers. The data collection and publication team within DfE carried out additional quality checks and data validations throughout the data entry process. After the data was extracted, the production team undertook a further quality assurance process to recode and correct some of the data.
Please see the year specific methodology section of the statistical release, for more details.
Trainees included in this release
We apply filters to ensure we capture only valid trainees:
Trainees were in their first year
Trainee records were signed off and not marked as draft or dormant
Trainees were on a course on or before second Wednesday of October
Trainees were on a course that started after 1 August of the published training year
Trainees were on a course that leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Trainees were not excluded (see below)
Trainees on the Future Teaching Scholars programme in this dataset are included with trainees on a School Direct route.
Trainees excluded from this release
There are a number of trainees excluded from this analysis who may be working towards QTS, or another teaching qualification. This release does not include:
Self-funded trainees – We exclude trainees that the provider has indicated are not eligible for UK financial support and do not have a DfE allocated place[1]. This includes overseas trainees not entitled to UK financial support, and trainees on the School Direct salaried route undertaking a non-DfE funded subject. This does not apply to high potential ITT trainees or Future Teaching Scholars Programme trainees. Some subjects have allocations to prevent over recruitment - providers who recruit beyond their allocation are expected to fund the costs of additional trainees.
Some trainees are excluded from mainstream ITT statistics, but are included in a separate section of this publication or an annex of the ITT performance profiles statistical release:
Early years ITT – The main tables in this publication focus on trainees working towards QTS, and so trainees working towards early years teacher status (EYTS) are not included because they are not eligible for QTS. Figures on early years ITT are reported in a separate section of the release.
Assessment Only candidates – Assessment Only is for experienced teachers with a degree and those with a teaching qualification from different countries, who have not been awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) in England. It allows teachers to do the necessary assessment and skills tests to qualify for QTS. These individuals are deemed to be already in the workforce and therefore do not count towards the 2020/21 Teacher Supply Model (TSM) targets. Figures for AO trainees have been published as an annex to the initial teacher training (ITT) performance profiles since its 2016/17 publication.
Teacher Supply Model & Teacher Workforce Model
Teacher Supply Model
The Teacher Supply Model (TSM) was used by DfE to estimate the number of postgraduate trainee teachers needed to provide sufficient numbers of qualified teachers for state-funded schools in England, up to and including the 2020/21 training year (ITT2020). The last annual iteration of the TSM estimated the number of postgraduate ITT entrants needed for ITT courses starting in England in the autumn of 2020.
More information can be found within the 2020/21 Teacher Supply Model and accompanying user guide, both of which are available here.
Teacher Workforce Model
In 2020, the TSM was replaced by the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM). The TWM considers both recruitment and retention alongside estimates of teacher demand, and, as of the 2021/22 training year (ITT2021), analysis from the model is used by DfE to set postgraduate ITT targets.
Further information is available
Previously published figures on new entrants to ITT and outcomes of final year trainees can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training
This can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:
meet identified user needs;
are well explained and readily accessible;
are produced according to sound methods;
are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.
Once statistics have been designated as Official Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.
The Department has a set of statistical policies in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
If you have a specific enquiry about Initial Teacher Training (ITT) statistics and data:
ITT Routes Analysis and Research team
Email: ittstatistics.publications@education.gov.uk
Telephone: Jeanette D'Costa, 077 6613 3944