Where have all the linguists gone?

Applications for the PGCE have risen this year, but there are still problems recruiting for trainees in some areas, notably languages. Diana Hinds looks at what is being done to increase numbers

The battle for more teachers is not over yet. As the list of shortage subjects grows ever longer, making you wonder if one day it will engulf the entire curriculum, three subjects continue to dominate the shortages debate: maths, science and foreign languages.

There is cause for concern here, says the Teacher Training Agency. But as a new cohort of trainees gets to work on the postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) this autumn, the agency is being as upbeat as it can about a modest upturn in overall recruitment figures.

Figures from the Graduate Teacher Training Register show that applications for the PGCE in England are up 10 per cent on last year. In the shortage subjects (officially, maths, science, foreign languages, English, design and technology, information and communications technology), postgraduate applications are up 7 per cent overall. Maths is up 17 per cent. Science remains the same as last year. Modern foreign languages, however, are down by 3 per cent.

Some of the improvement, the TTA believes, can be attributed to the various incentives offered to graduate trainees. There are the golden hellos for trainees in shortage subjects, worth £4,000 on achieving qualified teacher status, and the £6,000 bursary, open to all PGCE trainees. Training institutions report that the bursary is helping, although in a few cases, it may actually be attracting the wrong people. "There is concern that the bursary is drawing in people who haven't thought sufficiently about teaching," says Mike Fleming, director of initial teacher training at Durham University.

From this September, the TTA is dangling a further carrot in front of potential trainees in shortage subjects: the chance to have their student loans paid off, over a period of time, by the Government, once they become qualified teachers.

Around the country, a number of institutions are reporting improvements in recruitment, with some even meeting their PGCE targets. Durham says that it is close to its targets, with fairly good recruitment in maths, science and modern foreign languages, and the biggest problems in geography.

The Rolle School of Education at Plymouth University has achieved its best figures ever, easily filling its primary course, and reaching its overall secondary target. Maths is still hardest to fill, and there are some problems in music and geography. The Institute of Education in London is also positive, having met its overall PGCE targets for the first time in six years. The geography department has recruited to target for the first time since it was raised in 2000. "There are a lot of people out there who have it in them to be teachers, at some point in their lives – perhaps after a few years' travelling, or doing a different job," says David Balderstone, subject leader for geography PGCE at the Institute. "It's not a matter of convincing people that teaching is a rewarding career. It's more a question of bringing it out of them, and giving them the confidence to make the switch."

Oxford Brookes University has met its maths target this year, but the difficulties with foreign languages recruitment are compounded by a shortage of school placements for trainees, says Cliff Marshall, senior tutor for ITT admissions. A "Maîtrise" course, with European Union funding, is proving popular, however, qualifying English and French nationals to teach in either country. With the Government's recent Green Paper sounding discouragement for modern foreign languages at GCSE level, recommending it be dropped as a compulsory requirement, language teaching and recruitment face a tough struggle. Added to the dwindling pool of A-level and university linguists, teacher shortages in Germany and France are now restricting the flow of foreign native speakers to teach in English schools, says Simon Green, an ITT adviser at the Centre for Information on Language Teaching.

Nor is language teaching helped by a pronounced gender gap, with 75 per cent of recent teaching recruits being female, and a disparity of 16 to 18 per cent between girls and boys gaining A to C grades at GCSE. More boy-friendly language teaching could help, suggests Simon Green, as well as more male role models. Gary Lineker talking recently on the BBC about learning Spanish, was a welcome step in the right direction.

education@independent.co.uk