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81% of new teachers felt ready. The thing that made them leave was mentoring

Qurexa Editorial Team2 November 20267 min read 0 0
81% of new teachers felt ready. The thing that made them leave was mentoring

What happened

The first findings have been published from an independent study into how new teachers in England are trained. The report came out on 29 October 2026. It was written by Alma Economics for the Department for Education, and it is the first of three reports in a three-year evaluation. Some background helps here. In 2021 the Department for Education set out a new set of Quality Requirements for all courses that lead to Qualified Teacher Status. These came into force for courses delivered from September 2024. They cover five areas: the curriculum trainees are taught, mentoring and guidance, assessment, quality assurance, and the partnerships and structures that hold it all together. The evaluation asked whether these changes are working. The researchers gathered views from trainee teachers, accredited training providers, training partners, schools that host placements, multi-academy trust leaders, and providers that stopped offering training. The headline findings are mostly encouraging, with one clear warning. On the positive side, 81 per cent of trainees felt ready to teach by the end of their training. Seventy-one per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their training overall. And 74 per cent said they were likely or very likely to stay in the profession for at least the next five years. The warning is about mentoring. The report found that a lack of mentor support was the most frequently cited reason trainees gave for withdrawing from their course.

Why this matters

Teacher shortages are not an abstract policy problem. They show up as a class without a permanent maths teacher, or a school that cannot run a subject at A-level. Two things drive shortages: how many people start training, and how many of them stay. This report is mostly about the second. The finding about mentoring is the one that should get attention, because it is specific and actionable. Trainees did not mainly leave because the curriculum was wrong, or because assessment was badly designed. The single most common reason given for dropping out was not getting enough support from a mentor. A mentor is the experienced teacher who guides a trainee through their placement. It is the difference between being thrown into a classroom and being shown how to manage one. That matters for parents too. Every trainee who drops out in the middle of a placement is disruption for a class, and one fewer teacher in the system a year later. There is also a resourcing tension running through the whole report, and it is worth understanding. Training a mentor properly takes a teacher out of the classroom. Schools found that hard to do. Some providers said that the effort of releasing mentors for training actually reduced the number of placements they could offer.

What the evidence actually says

The report is detailed, and the figures differ quite a lot between parts of the reforms. The curriculum came out strongest. Fifty-eight per cent of accredited providers rated it effective or very effective for training quality. Seventy per cent of trainees said it had meaningfully helped prepare them for the classroom, and 60 per cent said it was effective in making them want to stay in teaching. Some providers did worry that standardising the curriculum has cost them the ability to tailor content to local circumstances. School placements came out strongest of all with trainees. Seventy-seven per cent were satisfied with their placements. Eighty-six per cent said practice in schools was effective in making them ready to teach, and 76 per cent said it supported their intention to stay. Placement schools found the minimum time requirement reasonably easy to implement, at 55 per cent, and effective, at 70 per cent. Intensive Training and Practice, known as ITAP, is a focused block of training on specific skills. Providers rated it the most effective requirement for overall quality, at 69 per cent. Trainees were less convinced: 58 per cent found it effective for readiness, and 49 per cent for wanting to stay. Providers also said designing and coordinating it was among the most demanding parts of the reforms. Mentoring was described in interviews as one of the most transformative changes, with the mentor's role carrying more status than before. Seventy per cent of trainees were satisfied with their mentoring, 71 per cent found it effective for readiness and 65 per cent for retention. But 19 per cent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, making it the second most common area of dissatisfaction. The Department for Education removed a requirement for 20 hours of mentor training part-way through the year in response to feedback from the sector. Assessment scored lowest with trainees. Sixty-two per cent were satisfied, 20 per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and only 53 per cent found it effective for readiness and 43 per cent for retention. The report notes that satisfaction with assessment tends to be low in education settings generally. Two limitations the authors are clear about. These are first-wave, preliminary findings that will be examined again in later waves. And training partners and placement schools are less well represented in the sample than providers, so their views should be read as illustrative rather than representative. One more honest note: stakeholders were divided on whether the reforms have actually improved outcomes. Some saw improvements; others thought outcomes had stayed the same or got worse in places. The factors most strongly linked to good outcomes were a structured curriculum, good school practice and effective mentoring.

Practical advice

1. If you are thinking about teacher training, ask about mentoring specifically. This report makes clear it is the thing most likely to make or break the experience. Ask a provider: who will my mentor be, how much time are they given for it, and what happens if the relationship is not working? 2. Ask about placements too. Trainees rated school practice most highly of everything. Ask how placements are arranged, how far you might have to travel, and how much time you will spend in school. 3. If you are already training and struggling, say so early. A lack of mentor support is the most common reason people leave. Providers have processes for raising this. Leaving quietly is the worst outcome for everyone, including you. 4. If you are an experienced teacher asked to mentor, ask what time you are given. The report found that releasing staff for mentor training was genuinely difficult for schools. It is reasonable to ask how the time will be protected before agreeing. 5. If you are a parent, keep perspective. Most trainees in this study felt ready to teach and intended to stay. The problems identified are real but they are about how training is resourced, not about a collapse in quality.

What to know

On 29 October 2026, the Department for Education published the first interim report from a three-year independent evaluation by Alma Economics into reforms to initial teacher training in England. The reforms introduced Quality Requirements across five areas, in force for courses from September 2024. Most headline results were positive. Eighty-one per cent of trainees felt ready to teach, 71 per cent were satisfied with their training, and 74 per cent expected to stay in teaching for at least five years. School placements scored highest with trainees, at 86 per cent effective for readiness. The clearest warning concerns mentoring. Although 70 per cent of trainees were satisfied with it, a lack of mentor support was the most frequently cited reason for withdrawing from a course. Schools struggled to release staff for mentor training, and some providers said this reduced the placements they could offer. Assessment scored lowest with trainees. These are preliminary, first-wave findings. Training partners and placement schools were under-represented in the sample, and stakeholders disagreed on whether outcomes have genuinely improved. Sources: GOV.UK (Department for Education), "Evaluation of initial teacher training (ITT) reforms: wave 1 interim report", 29 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-initial-teacher-training-itt-reforms-wave-1-interim-report; Alma Economics, "Evaluation of Reforms to Initial Teacher Training in England: Wave 1 Interim Report", October 2026 (published by the Department for Education at the link above). This article is for general information. It is not financial, legal or careers advice, and it does not replace advice from a qualified professional.

#teacher training#education policy#mentoring#schools#DfE#teaching careers

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