The Science, Engineering and Technology Workforce in the FE and Skills Sector: Implications for ITE and professional development

There is a need for accurate and granular data in order to understand FE workforce issues. There is relatively low capacity within the current FE workforce to increase the delivery of education and training for science technicians, and there is a need for CPD to be given a higher priority,
particularly to enhance industry experience and subject pedagogy. From an initial teacher education perspective, relatively few new entrants are being attracted into teaching in science, engineering and technology. Graduate incentives could be considered, but a focus solely on graduates may not be appropriate in these subject areas. There is also clearly a need to upskill existing teaching staff, and to examine whether current CPD practices are appropriate – more than half report CPD of one day or less per year, insufficient to provide in-depth industry experience.