Concern is growing about a shortage of trainee teachers after one of Scotland’s top universities was able to recruit only five people to a key course.
The University of Aberdeen has filled less than a fifth of places on its postgraduate maths teaching course, which starts next month.
It is the latest institution to report a marked lack of interest in entering classrooms as schools across the country struggle with a staffing crisis.
John Swinney, the education secretary, has been urged to reconsider his opposition to offering bursaries to attract graduates into schools.
As well as the problems with the maths course, which has 29 places, uptake has been less than 50 per cent for Aberdeen’s postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE) courses in business education, geography, modern languages and religious education. A significant shortfall was also reported in biology, and only three of the university’s 14 PGDE secondary courses are full.
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Glasgow and Edinburgh universities have also admitted that they are still searching for more than 100 teaching students for courses beginning within weeks. The shortfalls have led to claims that a Scottish government recruitment drive aimed at science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects, has failed.
The government recently reported 700 vacancies across Scotland and one council warned that a lack of staff could lead to children being turned away from their local primary schools.
Iain Gray, education spokesman for Scottish Labour, has called on Mr Swinney to consider new policies to boost teacher numbers.
“These figures make it clear that the SNP’s campaign to recruit to teacher training places in Stem subjects has failed,” he said. “The Scottish government must now consider other actions to make teaching more attractive, such as bursaries or financial incentives.”
In May, Mr Swinney boasted that his recruitment drive was “hitting the mark” with undergraduates in Stem subjects, and cited a “greatly encouraging” rise in interest.
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His claims have been undermined after Aberdeen recruited only five maths PGDE undergraduates against its target of 29. Last week only 23 of 48 places on Glasgow’s equivalent maths course had been filled.
Anne Haworth, chairwoman of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, said she was concerned by a shortage of maths teachers across the UK. “Schools and colleges need to be properly funded,” she said. “It would be helpful if there was more stability in curriculum and assessment and if decisions about these were made by professional bodies rather than by politicians.”
Overall, the University of Aberdeen has filled only 153 of 211 PGDE places. Performance against the target has been boosted by over-recruitment in subjects in which there are already plenty of teachers, such as modern studies and history.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said teachers had endured a real-terms pay cut over the past decade and that a pay rise, along with as measures to address excessive workloads, was needed to make the profession more attractive.
Asked for its figures, the University of the West of Scotland did not provide precise numbers but said it was confident of filling its 116 PGDE secondary places.
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A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “Applications for secondary teacher education programmes remain open. We will not know the exact recruitment figures until the start of the new academic year.”