A report from the cross-party UK Parliament Education Committee in May 2024 also emphasised the need for programmes to boost teacher recruitment, training and retention. There’s an urgent need for prompt and effective action: our children are our future, but that future is looking increasingly gloomy.
By Carole Lamb, Head of Education, Integra Education
Teacher recruitment is now at such a critical level that it could impact the future quality of education in our schools. That’s a key finding of the 2024 report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). In 2023, England failed to meet targets set for initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment in both primary and secondary schools. Secondary school recruitment was particularly poor, reaching only half of the target figures overall.
A lack of recruitment
Each year, the Department for Education (DfE) sets targets for the number of trainee teachers needed to ensure schools are fully staffed. Since the pandemic, recruitment has fallen to its lowest levels in relation to these targets. And the number of teachers leaving has increased. Combined with ever-growing class sizes, this is causing even greater pressure on those teachers who remain.
The changing face of teaching
There are some initiatives aimed at improving recruitment in certain secondary subjects, including bursaries and the international relocation payment (IRP) scheme. These have made some impact but much more needs to be done, as future recruitment looks set to continuing failing to meet the targets.
Other recent developments could influence recruiting levels. Early Career Teachers (ECTs – previously Newly Qualified Teachers) now have to complete an induction period of six terms rather than three to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). However, with teachers being overworked, ECTs aren’t receiving the support they need to provide the best levels of education and to help them deal with pupil behaviour and development.
Meanwhile, the temporary education market has been attracting more teachers, with benefits including a fixed contract, greater motivation and job satisfaction. This, along with flexible or part-time work, could help to boost recruitment and retention, also opening further opportunities for teachers who then may want to look at more permanent staffing roles.
Lack of retention
Another issue is why retention rates are still falling. Any increase in leaving rates affects the DfE’s recruitment targets, which will have to rise even more to compensate. In May 2024, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The teaching profession is in the midst of a crisis of recruitment, retention and morale, with 40,000 teachers leaving in the last year alone.”
So what’s happening, and what are the key factors causing teachers to leave?
Low pay and higher workloads
Teachers generally feel under-paid, under-valued and over-worked. The NFER report stated that teachers’ pay has effectively deteriorated since the pandemic. Meanwhile, they’re having to cope with increasingly large classes and a huge amount of pressure relating to both admin and results.
The recent Conservative government prioritised the reduction of teachers’ working hours, with the easing of planning, admin and marking pressures producing some initial successes. Despite this, teachers’ working hours rose significantly last year. There are some signs of progress on the pay front, but much still needs to be done to reduce workloads.
More disruption and less support
A key reason for teachers leaving is the growth in disruptive behaviour from pupils. In primary schools, low funding has often led to a lack of teaching assistants, so teachers spend much of their time dealing with poor behaviour rather than teaching, which in turn increases their workload. In the NFER report, the areas highlighted most frequently as a high priority for workload reduction were behaviour management and pastoral care.
According to University College London’s Institute of Education, teachers are effectively becoming social workers, having to support pupils with mental health issues due to ‘inadequate’ capacity in social and mental health services. Similarly, research by the charity Education Support found that 33% of teachers reported having to help resolve a family conflict.
Conclusions
So, those are just some of the issues, but what are the solutions? The NFER report states that, given the scale of the challenges facing teacher recruitment and retention, policymakers need to consider radical but cost-effective actions.
The most pressing need is to reduce teacher workloads. One of the main recommendations of the NFER report was: “Government should set up an independent review focussing on how to reduce teachers’ workload related to behaviour management and pastoral care, which should consider the role of external support services.”
The Chair of the Parliament Education Committee, Robin Walker MP, agrees: “For many current teachers, excessive workloads, rather than pay, was the biggest factor pushing them to leave… We also heard that ‘overspill’ from wider social problems is heaping extra stress on teachers.”
We fully support the NFER recommendation and believe that a long-term strategy of reducing workload by offering flexible work options and focusing on high-quality, condensed education will improve teacher recruitment. Our teachers are one of our most valuable resources. We must ensure they have all the support they need. Without their expert help, our nation’s children will be unable to meet their full potential. And that, in turn, will be a disaster for our nation and our society.
Integra specialises in education recruitment. Carole Lamb is a brand ambassador who promotes Integra’s core values of integrity, passion, quality, and compliance. She has over 24 years of experience in the recruitment industry and specialises in Education.
Please visit: integraeducation.co.uk
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