Shortage of Religious Studies Teachers Persists Amid Rising Student Demand

Religious Studies (RS) remains a popular subject in England, with 218,602 students taking the GCSE this year, a 0.5 percent increase. Despite this demand, the Religious Education Council of England & Wales (REC) and the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) report a critical shortage of specialist teachers. Currently, there are 6,407 specialists, resulting in an average of 34 students per teacher. Only 120 new teachers with post-A-level qualifications entered the workforce this year.

Industry leaders describe the current situation as a "reality check," noting that the workforce has not grown significantly in a decade. Many schools rely on non-specialists to teach the subject, which critics argue leads to "tokenistic" and poor-quality instruction. While the government plans to add RS to the national curriculum to improve social cohesion, advocates argue that the sector requires urgent intervention. NATRE and the REC are calling for the restoration of training bursaries and subject knowledge enhancement grants, noting that previous bursaries had successfully increased recruitment applications by 60 percent before being cut.