‘Trying to find a maths or science teacher is like looking for a unicorn’: inside English schools’ recruitment crisis

There are no applicants at all for some posts, and pupils are paying the price, warn heads and parents

Kirsten Griffiths’ daughter is in a class of 35 for GCSE English and has “limited input” from her overstretched teacher. In September, when she starts her crucial exam year at her Hampshire state school, she has been told that many English lessons will have a non-specialist cover teacher as the school manages the juggling act of coping with too few staff.

“We’re really grateful we are in a position to support her with a private English tutor, but that makes me feel guilty because I know many families can’t do that,” she says.