‘Almost beyond belief’: axing of teacher recruitment scheme will worsen crisis, say critics

Lucy Kellaway, co-founder of the educational charity Now Teach, whose scheme for teachers will be scrapped in September despite new applications ‘flying in’. Photograph: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy

Ministers have been accused of making a crisis in the recruitment of teachers even worse after axing funding to a much-praised programme helping older workers start a new career in the classroom.

An outcry is already beginning over the decision to axe the career change programme, with organisers complaining that there “will be barely anyone left to teach our children” unless Rishi Sunak lives up to his party conference pledge to prioritise education.