The number of trainee primary school teachers has risen

The Teacher Training Agency says 34,400 have begun courses this year - the most since 1975 - with another 6,900 people expected to learn on the job.

The total number - 41,300 - is 700 more than last year and represents the sixth annual increase.

However, the number training to be secondary teachers, a shortage area, has fallen by 405 to 17,885.

'Delivering'

The TTA's annual census of universities, colleges and schools shows 16,537 people on primary courses, an increase of 899.

Earlier this year, a BBC survey of 44 colleges found almost two-thirds thought newly-qualified primary teachers would struggle to find jobs.

Declining birth rates during the late 1990s mean there are around 60,000 fewer children at primary schools than last year.

TTA chief executive, Ralph Tabberer, said: "Recruitment to secondary teacher training remains a high priority for us, as each subject presents different challenges."

But he added: "The continuing success of employment-based routes, and particularly the Graduate Teacher Programme, has ensured that we are close to delivering the number of teachers needed, even in the most challenging subjects."

The School Standards Minister, David Miliband, said: "Good teachers are at the heart of government's programme for school reform and are uniquely placed to make a difference to the lives of young people.

"That is why the government has introduced measures to make teaching more attractive as a career.

"The fact that we have the highest number of trainee teachers than at any time since 1975 is evidence that these measures are working.

"These recruits are now supplemented by increasing numbers of people entering teaching on employment-based routes."