Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 16
38th Report - Increasing teacher numbers: Secondary and further education
Published 9 Jul 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Increasing teacher numbers: Secondary and further education All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department acknowledged that it was concerned about the position in colleges, where the vacancy rate was significantly higher than in schools, but it described having a “strong” focus on recruitment into further education.38 It explained that it had introduced various initiatives such as recently investing £400 million in the sector;39 extending targeted retention incentives to colleges from October 2024, with an estimated 32 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.34-2.35 33 Qq 31, 43; C&AG’s Report, para 2.35 34 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.13, 2.4, Figure 8 35 C&AG’s Report, Key Facts 36 ITN0011, Written evidence submitted by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation; ITN0014, Written evidence submitted by the Association of Colleges 37 Q 12; C&AG’s Report paras 2.2, 2.7 38 Q 44 39 Q 12 14 6,000 people benefitting to date, and positive feedback from colleges;40 and a two-year programme to attract teachers and support them through their first two years.41 The Department also described expanding the use of “dual professionals” who teach alongside working in industry. They can upskill other teachers and ensure students are taught the latest practices.42 Written evidence from both the Construction Industry Training Board and the Education and Training Foundation support the value dual professionals bring to the further education sector.43 However, written evidence from the Association of Colleges mentions these initiatives are still “fairly new” with none having fully been evaluated yet on their long-term impact.44
From: Public Accounts Committee, 38th Report - Increasing teacher numbers: Secondary and further education (HC 825), 9 July 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-eighth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 9 September 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-eighth report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with each of the Committee's recommendations on increasing secondary and further education teacher numbers, and gives target implementation dates between November 2025 and December 2026.
- On the pledge of 6,500 additional teachers, the department "will set out more detail" in a published delivery plan covering the definition of the pledge, tracking of progress, progress to date and the levers it will use, including recruitment and retention.
- On a whole-system strategy, it points to upcoming publications (the Schools White Paper, the 6,500 delivery plan and the post-16 education and skills strategy) and says it is "embedding value for money analysis" into major initiatives.
- On further education, it commits to update the Committee "every 6 months" on progress in recruiting and retaining FE teachers, with a first step being the 6,500 delivery plan.
- On behaviour hubs, it says "further rollout and funding are subject to spending review outcomes and evaluation findings".