Troubled: Sir David Bell worries that 鈥榰niversity courses that have trained high-quality teachers are being choked off鈥�

The vice-chancellor who was chief civil servant to Michael Gove, the education secretary, has called the scaling-back of university teacher training 鈥減erverse鈥� after another huge drop in provisional student places for next year.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of the University of Reading and former permanent secretary to the Department for Education, made the comments after the release of the allocations for initial teacher training places for 2014-15 by the National College for Teaching and Leadership. The number of places allocated to higher education institutions has fallen by 3,800, a decline of 14.5聽per cent.

By contrast, the number of places for the government鈥檚 flagship School Direct programme 鈥� where trainees are recruited directly by schools 鈥� has risen from about 9,600 to 15,400, more than a third of the total.

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This comes despite claims that School Direct recruited less than 50聽per cent of its national target in the 2013-14 recruitment cycle, according to an analysis of the figures.

鈥淚t is perverse that university courses that have trained high-quality teachers for years are being choked off,鈥� said Sir David, who left the DfE at the end of 2011. 鈥淚t is fine to create a range of training routes, but not at the expense of good, proven providers.

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鈥淲e鈥檝e seen unfilled School Direct places not being reallocated to universities: that kind of attitude is terribly puzzling and troubling.鈥�

Sir David鈥檚 views were shared by many in the sector, who have warned that it may be difficult for some universities to sustain initial teacher training after being hit by a large reduction in places this academic year.

鈥淭he national picture is bleak鈥ith many 鈥榞ood鈥� providers losing significant numbers to School Direct and in some cases whole subject areas,鈥� said Andy Jones, pro vice-chancellor for learning innovations and dean of Manchester Metropolitan University鈥檚 Faculty of Education. 鈥淚f School Direct continues to under-recruit, we will be facing a very likely teacher shortage beyond 2014.鈥�

Mr Jones said that maintaining core provision through universities would be the wisest strategy to avoid potential shortages, but the government 鈥渉as chosen not to do this鈥�.

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Besides losing their core teacher training places, some institutions have also been faced with shortfalls in their School Direct numbers, where they partner with schools to train teachers.

Kevin Mattinson, pro vice-chancellor (community and partnerships) and head of teacher education at Keele University, said that the under-allocations in School Direct were jeopardising partnerships between universities and schools.

Keele submitted a request for 35聽School Direct places in English and for history.

鈥淔or English, I鈥檝e been allocated four; for history, I鈥檝e been allocated five,鈥� he said.

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鈥淲e鈥檝e already had one school getting quite upset, saying: 鈥楰eele never told us there was a problem with our bid.鈥� We didn鈥檛 know there was any problem with bids. We knew we might not get all the numbers, but the schools are shocked. It puts new pressure on partnerships between schools and institutions.鈥�

john.elmes@tsleducation.com