The Department for Education has stopped running its own “Get Into Teaching” events, which were designed to help prospective teachers find out more about the profession. Its website has been quietly updated to state it has 鈥渕ade the decision not to run own-brand events for Get Into Teaching any more鈥�. The DfE-led events were previously promoted online alongside events run by teacher trainers. said these provider-led events 鈥渢end to target the type of user that interact with the Get into Teaching brand鈥�. Schools Week asked DfE for more details on why it decided to stop its own events. Focus on marketing with ‘greatest impact’ It said many ITT providers 鈥渁lready deliver a wide range of events across the country, offering prospective candidates detailed and practical information at a local level鈥�. The DfE said it needed to 鈥渆nsure we continue to prioritise marketing activity that has the greatest impact on recruitment outcomes, and inspires and attracts new candidates at scale, while strengthening consideration of teaching as a career鈥�. Schools Week asked how many prospective teachers engaged with the events, and how many were held annually, but the department did not respond. The DfE will continue to support providers in delivering their own events through the Get Into Teaching toolkit. It will also offer providers the option to request a teacher training adviser to attend events, to provide independent advice and guidance to prospective teachers. The Get Into Teaching events page has now been replaced with , where prospective teachers can find events. Trainee targets cut The decision comes as the DfE has slashed its teacher training targets for next year. New teacher workforce model (TWM) estimates predict 20,800 trainees will need to be recruited for state schools this September 鈥撀燼 drop of 23 per cent (6,120) compared to 2025-26. The department predicts 15,280 trainees will need to be recruited for secondary schools, down 21 per cent on last year, and 5,520 for primaries, down 28 per cent. The DfE said falling pupil rolls and better teacher retention rates were among reasons for the drop. Sector experts welcomed the more positive recruitment and retention picture, but warned against “complacency鈥�. Meanwhile, responding to a written Parliamentary question in February, schools minister Georgia Gould said the government is 鈥渕aking progress towards鈥� its pledge to boost teacher numbers by 6,500 in secondaries, special schools and colleges. Latest shows 2,345 more secondary and special school teachers in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24. FE teacher data is due in May. Census data also showed 1,700 fewer teachers left the state sector in 2024 than in 2023.