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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale Education correspondent

Quarter of schools in England lack a physics teacher, analysis finds

England IOP
A teenage pupil has a hair-raising experience during a school science class by touching a Van Der Graff Generator.
Thousands of students miss out on taking A-level physics because of the lack of a specialist teacher, the Institute of Physics says. Photograph: Mike Goldwater/Alamy

A quarter of state secondary schools in England will start the new term with no dedicated physics teacher, with schools in poorer areas worst affected, analysis has found.

The lack of specialists means more than half (58%) of pupils studying for a science GCSE will have the physics component taught by a teacher who has not studied a physics-related subject beyond the age of 18.

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