A grey wave is sweeping WA classrooms,with the number of teachers older than 60 doubling over the past decade.

The growing generational divide in teaching ranks is laid bare by new figures that reveal almost one in five of the State’s educators are now over 60, far outnumbering peers in their 20s.

The proportion of teachers in their 20s has remained static, sparking fears for the future as young graduates fail to secure jobs or quickly flame out of the profession.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show more than half of people with teaching degrees do not currently work in education, while a 2014 study estimated one in five graduates did not even register as teachers after completing their degrees.

In 2010, 5534 registered teachers were 60 or older, with 6780 in their 20s.

Today there are 10,165 teachers over 60, while the number of 20-somethings in the profession has grown a measly 6 per cent to 7192.

Teachers aged 30-49 continue to make up nearly half of the workforce, and there has been a steep decline in teachers aged in their 50s.

The figures take in the public, independent and Catholic sectors.

The State School Teachers’ Union of WA, which only represents public school teachers, said unless schools had a conscious policy around hiring graduates, inexperienced teachers were likely to miss out.

Union president Pat Byrne said she would support hiring policies requiring every school to ensure a set percentage of its staff were in the early years of their careers.

Camera Icon One in five WA teachers are now aged over 60, up from one in 10 a decade ago. Teachers over 60 also now nearly outnumber those in their 20s two to one. Pictured are Mrs Tara Roberts, Pre-Primary Teacher with Charles Biddle, Head of Science Department at St Stephen's School in Duncraig, Perth. Credit: The West Australian, Ross Swanborough

“If you are a graduate teacher and going through a selection process and competing on a merit basis with someone five or 10 years more experienced, you are going to struggle, simply because you haven’t got the experience,” she said.

Ms Byrne said more than one in four graduates who did manage to find a job burned out within the first five years, unable to cope with the stress and workload.

The Education Department said while most teaching graduates are in their 20s, about 30 per cent were 30 or older last year. Department workforce executive director Damien Stewart said demand for teachers was actively managed but the department did not employ staff based on their age or graduate status.

Association of Independent Schools WA deputy director Ron Gorman said hiring policies were decided by individual schools.

Mr Gorman said there was no shortage of high-calibre graduates being produced by universities.

Figures supplied by Catholic Education WA, which employs just over 6000 teachers not including casuals, reveal the number of teachers in their 20s has dropped around 17 per cent to 982 since 2010.

Consistent with the rest of the sector, Catholic school teachers aged over 60 have roughly doubled over that period.

“All our schools select and recruit their own staff, offering choice and flexibility for teachers to find the school that best fits their needs and preferences,” a CEWA spokeswoman said.

“Young teachers may begin their career with casual or short-term positions and spend time in their 20s travelling, with many not getting their first permanent teaching position until their 30s,” a CEWA spokeswoman said.

WA Secondary Schools Executive Association president Armando Giglia said the reasons older teachers were staying in the job longer were diverse.

“You could speculate about the Globlal Financial Crisis, the need to have more teachers because of the huge increase in overall student numbers, or the recognition that part time and more staff friendly options by the employer mean that teachers are more likely to stay on,” he said.