The trainingagency (TDA - formerly the TeacherTrainingAgency) is provisionally allocating 15, 253 places for would-be primary teachers with training institutions for 2006-07, which is 4% fewer than this year.
The executive director of the TeacherTrainingAgency, Graham Holley, said its own analysis indicated that 90% of last year's trainees were in teaching posts six months after their training with another 5% actively seeking employment.
"I congratulate the TeacherTrainingAgency in achieving a turnaround in student recruitment but there is no substitute for levels of pay which sustain the attractiveness of the profession over time or getting rid of student fees which have hit young people hard, " he said.
And he also called on the Training and Development Agency for schools to review how initial teachertraining equips new teachers to deal with challenging behaviour.