The number of new trainee teachers in England has fallen short of the intended target for the third year in a row, according to the BBC. It said this latest data has prompted fears of an intensified recruitment crisis in the education sector, as graduates turn their back on teacher training. 

This year, it said, 28,148 graduates began initial teacher training courses, and while this was seen as a reasonable number, it came in at just 94 per cent of the overall target for the year. 

At secondary school level, the number of teachers being recruited was just 82 per cent of what was targeted for the year. 

This is particularly problematic, especially with the news that a population increase in recent years is set to hit secondary schools hard in the next few years as more and more pupils flood into schools. It is expected that by the end of 2022, there will be an extra 800,000 pupils in secondary schools across England. 

Because of the unusually high turnover among teachers, which amounts to an average of about seven or eight per cent of the workforce, the government needs to be working to bring in at least 35,000 new teachers each and every year. 

And while ministers have said they are redoubling their efforts to attract more graduates into teacher training courses, headteachers have expressed their fears at the ongoing recruitment crisis, and the fact they fear it continuing in the future. 

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Brian Lightman said: "We continue to be immensely concerned about the teacher recruitment crisis which is affecting schools all over the country."

Education recruitment expert and honorary research fellow at Oxford University John Howson said: "There is clearly going to be a crisis for the 2016-17 academic year in some parts of the country."