A quarter of state secondary schools in England will start the new term with no dedicated physics teacher, with schools in poorer areas worst affected, analysis has found.
The lack of specialists means more than half (58%) of pupils studying for a science GCSE will have the physics component taught by a teacher who has not studied a physics-related subject beyond the age of 18.
An estimated 700,000 pupils are affected, according to the Institute of Physics, which carried out the analysis and is calling for urgent action to tackle what it describes as a “chronic and critical” shortage of specialist physics teachers.
The IoP report says students in schools without a specialist physics teacher are half as likely as those with sufficient physics specialists to go on to study A-level physics, “a crucial gateway” to further studies leading to careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).
It calculates that more than 12,000 students are missing out on taking A-level physics as a direct result of having no specialist teacher, while more than 300 English state secondaries are failing to produce any pupils who progress to study physics at A-level.
The report says the shortage is having a bigger impact on students in disadvantaged areas because their schools are less likely to have “in-field” physics teachers, while independent and top-scoring state schools cream off the best recruits.
“Data show that only 4% of students in the lowest socioeconomic status quintile take physics A-level, compared with about 11% in the highest quintile, and that 70% of A-level physics students come from just 30% of schools,” it says.
It is not a new problem. The lack of physics teachers is down to three decades of low recruitment and high attrition rates, which have left the state system in need of an additional 3,500 specialists at a time when the country is facing a severe skills shortage.
There have been signs of improvement in physics teacher training recruitment, which went up from 17% of the government’s target in 2023 to 30% last year, but the report highlights problems with retention. Nearly half (44%) of newly trained physics teachers left the profession within five years, compared with a third of teachers overall.
The IoP is urging the UK government to invest in a £120m, 10-year programme to tackle the crisis. Tom Grinyer, the IoP’s chief executive, said: “This report paints a worrying picture of an education system struggling to find and keep the physics teachers we need. That means hundreds of thousands of young people being taught physics by non-specialists.
“Despite the often heroic efforts of teachers having to work in unfamiliar subjects, inevitably many of those students are missing out. Research shows that pupils without access to a specialist physics teacher are much less likely to choose to study the subject at A-level. If we fail to tackle this challenge then we are failing to nurture the scientists and innovators of tomorrow – with serious consequences for our society and economy.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are already delivering on our pledge to recruit and retain 6,500 more talented teachers, with 2,300 more secondary and special schoolteachers in classrooms this year, as well as 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the profession – one of the lowest leave rates since 2010.
“We’ve also seen a 25% increase in the number of people accepting teacher training places starting this autumn in Stem subjects. Through our plan for change, we will go further still to ensure every pupil has access to the expert teachers they need including continuing to offer tax-free incentives to encourage more talented people into the classroom to teach subjects including physics.”
Tom Middlehurst, the deputy director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Targets for recruiting trainee physics teachers are missed by very large margins. The underlying problem is that teaching salaries struggle to compete with the private sector, and this is compounded by workloads and responsibilities which affect retention.
“School leaders endeavour to mitigate those pressures but they’re operating under extremely difficult conditions with insufficient funding and demanding performance tables and inspections. The result is that it can be extremely difficult to put specialist physics teachers in front of classes, and schools often have no option other than to use non-specialists.”
