The following table shows the number of full-time vacant teaching posts in local authority maintained nursery/primary, secondary and special schools in each January from 1997 to 2007. Vacancy rates as a percentage of full-time teachers in post are also included.
A full-time teacher vacancy refers to a full-time appointment of at least one term's duration that, on the survey date, had been advertised but not filled. Vacancies include those filled on a temporary basis unless filled by someone with a fixed term contract of one term or more.
Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post2 Number of vacancies 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20073 20073 Nursery and primary All vacancies Number 1,090 1,390 1,370 1,420 2,110 1,800 1,110 780 740 710 660 — Rate 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.2 1.0 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7 230 Head 0.6 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.6 100 Deputy head/assistant head 1.3 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.7 130 Classroom teacher 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.2 1.1 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 430 Secondary All vacancies Number 730 970 940 1,250 2.590 2,450 2,050 1,630 1,550 1.340 1,220 — Rate 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.7 1.4 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.4 80 Head 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.5 1.0 0.9 0.5 20 Deputy head/assistant head 0.7 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 60 Classroom teacher 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.7 1.5 1.4 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 1,130 Special All vacancies Number 200 230 220 240 280 290 240 220 190 180 170 — Rate 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.4 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.5 1.7 1.6 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.5 1.3 40 Head 1.2 1.1 2.0 2.5 1.0 1.1 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.6 1.2 10 Deputy head/assistant head 2.7 2.7 2.0 2.6 2.3 2.0 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.4 30 Classroom teacher 1.4 1.8 1.6 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.4 130 Nursery/primary, secondary and special All vacancies Number 2,020 2,590 2,530 2,910 4,980 4,540 3,410 2,630 2,480 2,230 2,040 — Rate 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.4 1.2 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 — Grade4,5 Head or deputy/ assistant 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.6 350 Head 0.7 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 130 Deputy head/assistant head 1.2 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 220 Classroom teacher 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.4 1.3 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 1,690 1 Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis of less than one term. 2 Teachers in post include full-time qualified regular teachers in (or on secondment from) maintained nursery and primary schools, plus the primary portion of full-time regular divided service, peripatetic, advisory and miscellaneous teachers. 3 Provisional. 4 The number of teachers in post by grade is from the 618g survey for 2001 onwards, previous years were estimated using the Database of Teacher Records. 5 The role of assistant head was created in 2001. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because of rounding. Source: 618g survey