Education recruiters, who say there is “huge demand” for teachers, have hit back at schools minister Nick Gibbs for saying there is no teacher recruitment crisis.

Gibbs, the minister of state at the Department for Education, was quoted by TES magazine as saying he did not think there was a crisis, though admitted there was a challenge but that the government was “managing the challenge”.

However, education staffing specialists have told Recruiter the suggestion demonstrates an alarming lack of understanding.

Impact Teachers manager Paul Gomm said: “The recruitment season [is] more competitive than ever, with growing numbers of headteachers looking overseas to fill the void. There is huge demand for teachers of maths, science and English, and the demand increases year-on-year.

“The recent suggestion by schools minister Nick Gibbs… displays a rather alarming lack of understanding of what is going on in the recruitment sector.”

TLTP Education managing director Darryl Mydat said: “It seems as if the minister is a little out of touch. Demand for full-time teaching staff is high and the challenge for us as a recruiter – as it is for schools – is finding candidates of a sufficient quality and experience to fill those vacancies. We recorded a 200% year-on-year increase in permanent education placements at the start of the academic year in September but we need more to be done to make teaching an attractive proposition.”

Classpeople director Lynis Bassett, meanwhile, said the issue was not so much finding teachers but finding good ones.

“Whilst there are an abundance of teachers out there, unfortunately add in the word ‘good’ and the statistics change.

“Unfortunately, teachers have become the victims of their own bad publicity and there appears to be a ‘lethargy’ among our young teachers. We need to shout about the good things the profession has to offer and invest more in encouraging people with drive to succeed.”

Mydat added that schools may need to give greater consideration to teachers from across the EU looking for work in the UK.

Gibbs’ comments were made just days before government figures revealed teacher vacancies had increased by a third in a year.

Other recruiters have told Recruiter there is an increasing demand for headteachers, with many schools and academies turning to headhunters to help fill roles. 

The Telegraph this morning reported the growing teacher shortage could be addressed by tapping into the pool of recently retired people, quoting education secretary Nicky Morgan as saying the prospect was “very exciting”.

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