IT sounds like the best job in the world.

Helping young people find their way in life is probably one of the most satisfying roles anyone could fulfill when entering teaching.

Yet for all the benefits the profession must bring, it appears that teacher shortages are growing. Between 2011 and 2014 the recorded rate of vacancies and temporarily filled positions more than doubled from 0.5 per cent of the teaching workforce to 1.2 per cent.

The report, by the National Audit Office (NAO) states that the Department for Education (DfE) has a weak understanding of the extent of local teacher supply shortages and whether they are being locally resolved.

It highlights the problem in poorer areas, with some 54 per cent of leaders in schools with large proportions of disadvantaged pupils saying attracting and keeping good teachers was a major problem, compared with 33 per cent of leaders in other schools.

Sara Rawnsley is the recruitment and retention strategy manager for Bradford. The former head of Princeville Primary in the city understands Bradford Council is the only authority in the country to have a designated person focusing on the recruitment and retention of teachers and they are already taking positive steps to address this national issue.

The Bradford Bus Tour, which Sara set up last year, takes trainee teachers around schools in the city to challenge perceptions people may have about Bradford and showcase it as a great place to live and work; and the recently launched Talent Bank aims to help college leavers who are embarking on the application process.

Sara explains they are also in the process of designing a bespoke IT system for collecting comprehensive data on retention figures to give a greater insight into how many teachers have moved on or left the profession entirely.

"What we also need to focus on is what a rewarding job it is. There are people who make a great success of this career and plough on," says Sara.

"I want people to realise that there is an issue nationally but there are still children to be taught and we still need good people in front of them every minute of every day making a difference to their lives."

John Howarth, branch secretary of Bradford NUT (National Union of Teachers) says: "As regards recruitment, the Government is blaming the teaching unions for painting a bleak picture about the job – far from it, it is the teachers telling us on a daily basis how stressed they are feeling from the excessive workload, constant over-scrutiny and fear of Ofsted labelling them as failing despite working ridiculous hours and sacrificing family life.

"Of course, this excessive pressure is felt most in schools where results are lowest. Paradoxically, you put teachers off going into those schools because they know they will be blamed however hard they work. Schools under less pressure do not have the same recruitment problems.

"As far as teaching being an attractive career at the moment, you have to put it in the context of a booming market for graduates where teachers’ pay has fallen far behind as a result of years of pay freezes or 1% increases. It must impact on how young people view teaching as a potentially rewarding career. The impact of performance related pay has also made it more problematic how a teacher’s salary will increase year on year as it now so dependent on results. Our pay surveys show that teachers in challenging schools have been more likely to have been refused annual pay progression than teachers in schools with less challenging intakes."

Between 2011 and 2014 the number of teachers leaving the profession increased by 11 per cent and the proportion of those who chose to leave the profession ahead of retirement increased from 64 per cent to 75 per cent.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "This report makes clear that despite rising pupil numbers and the challenge of a competitive jobs market, more people are entering the teaching profession than leaving it, there are more teachers overall and the number of teachers per pupil haven't suffered."

But the spokesman says they are determined to continue raising the status of the profession so that every child has a great teacher.

"That's why we're investing hundreds of millions in teacher recruitment, backing schemes like Teach First and the National Teaching Service to get great teachers where they are most needed, and why we've given schools unprecedented freedom over staff pay, to allow them to attract the brightest and the best."