Despite the increasing demand for Religious Studies (RS) as a GCSE subject, experts have continued to warn of a shortage of specialist teachers in the subject.
In England this year the number of students taking RS as a GCSE increased by 0.5 per cent to 218,602, making it the seventh most popular subject out of 58 offered at GCSE level. At present there are 6,407 specialist teachers in the subject, meaning that based on this year’s numbers, each teacher would have an average of 34 students.
The Religious Education Council of England & Wales (REC) and the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) have warned that the sector is facing a recruitment deficit. This year just 120 new teachers with post-A-level qualifications in the subject entered the workforce in England.
Earlier this year the government indicated it would be adding RS to the national curriculum in a bid to improve social cohesion. Katie Freeman, Chair of NATRE, welcomed the move, saying it would put RS on an equal footing with other subjects and end the “postcode lottery” of provision in the subject.
The REC has also previously noted that many of those who currently teach RS at GCSE do so as a secondary subject. In the worst cases RS is taught in a “tokenistic” manner due to the lack of available specialists.
Speaking on the latest GCSE figures, Sarah Lane Cawte, Chair of the REC, called the current situation a “reality check”.
“I have never seen such a demand from school leaders for religious education. The message we’re getting is clear: schools want a subject that builds mutual understanding between different religious and non-religious backgrounds and an academic approach to life’s big questions,” she said.
She added, “The current state of the workforce provides a reality check. The number of RE teachers hasn’t grown meaningfully for a decade, which means the ratio of specialist teachers to students is worsening.
“The outcome, as Ofsted recently found, is tokenistic and poorly taught religious education. Restoring the training bursary and the subject knowledge enhancement grant is the only meaningful way to address the issue.”
Katie Freeman, Chair of NATRE, commented, “The decision to cut the recent training bursary after just two years was a mistake. Its introduction had led to a 60% uptick in applications and was starting to reverse the decade long drift in recruitment. Looking into the future, we need to grow the workforce urgently by restoring the bursary if we want to deliver high-quality RE for every child in every school.”
