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oai:figshare.com:article/33913315 2026-10-01T17:52:03Z portal_1197 item_type_6 month_year_10_2026

Ethnic diversity in the teacher workforce : inequalities in access to initial teacher training programmes in the UK Emma Smith (302880) Rebecca Morris (3414248) Wendy Ramku (19858197) Amelia Hawkins (25062949) Jo Lampert (19568881) Fiona Longmuir (20078631) Jane Wilkinson (11465833) Migrated from ePrints Having an ethnically diverse teacher workforce is an important policy goal in the UK and elsewhere. Ethnically diverse teachers can have potentially positive outcomes for all pupils; for example, by serving as role models and enhancing culturally responsive pedagogy. Despite policy interventions to increase recruitment to teaching in the UK, data on the characteristics of teachers point to a profession that remains overwhelmingly female and white; and where the workforce in schools in diverse urban areas is often not reflective of local communities. This paper contributes to the literature on inequalities in the supply of teachers by documenting patterns of participation and success in postgraduate initial teacher training programmes over an eight-year period. Using data on applications and outcomes to all ITT programmes across the UK, the findings show that there are significant inequalities in the likelihood of Black and Asian applicants securing a training place compared with those who are White. These inequalities persist across gender, subject and type of training provider; as well as over the period considered. The data also show, however, that there is very little variation in training outcomes with most trainees being awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), irrespective of their ethnic background. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1080/00071005.2026.2669072 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Ethnic_diversity_in_the_teacher_workforce_inequalities_in_access_to_initial_teacher_training_programmes_in_the_UK/33913315 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Restricted Access