Teacher retention in deprived areas
Greater challenges in recruiting and retaining experienced teachers in schools in deprived areas and across core subjects.
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#3 - Understand reasons for teacher variations in deprived areas and core subjects.
Teacher vacancies and the challenges of retaining experienced teachers are greater for schools in deprived areas, and across some core subjects, leading to inequities in provision and career opportunities. Schools and colleges decide their own staffing model and have discretion around how they chose to use funding which may, for example, lead to variances in the use of...
Matched on
terms: area, deprived, teacher
Committee recommendation
95match
#63 - Low college teacher retention rates caused by pay, workload, and professional development issues
College teacher retention rates are significantly lower than in schools, with less than a quarter of college teachers remaining in the profession after ten years. Pay disparities, excessive workloads, limited professional development and job insecurity are causing burnout and undermining teachers’ confidence and contentment in their jobs. Whilst the Government offers targeted retention payments for those in the...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
94match
#12 - Expand teacher retention payments according to subject and regional demand, reviewing eligibility.
We welcome the initial success of existing retention payments such as the Levelling Up Premium and Early Career Payments. The Department should expand the Levelling Up Premium and Early Career Payments according to subject and regional demand. We have heard concerns about the restriction of these payments to Education Investment areas and that they may be needed elsewhere....
Matched on
terms: area, retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
94match
#26 - Disadvantaged schools suffer higher teacher turnover, fewer experienced staff, and limited pupil opportunities.
Those schools with higher proportions of disadvantaged pupils tend to have higher turnover rates and less experienced teachers.77 This impacts the government’s mission of breaking down the barriers to opportunity and means disadvantaged children are at risk of being locked out from particular careers.78 In 2023–24, 34% of teachers in the most disadvantaged schools had up to five...
Matched on
terms: area, retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
90match
#2 - Ensure sustained efforts to improve teacher recruitment and retention across all education stages.
Our evidence suggests that recruitment and retention issues occur at every stage of education, from primary school through to further education. However, the challenge increases as we move up the phases with more vacancies and a greater retention challenge in secondary than in primary and again in post 16. The Department must ensure that efforts are being made...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
87match
#64 - Address underlying reasons for recruitment and retention crisis among school and college teachers
The Department for Education must address the underlying and unresolved reasons for the recruitment and retention crisis amongst school and college teachers, which include pay disparities, excessive workloads, limited professional development and job insecurity. In so doing, it must develop incentives for all post-16 teaching staff to remain in the profession. It must include specialist colleges within the...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
86match
#4 - Teacher starting salaries require increases to remain competitive for recruitment and retention.
Teacher salaries need to be attractive in order to boost recruitment. We welcome the introduction of a £30k starting salary as a step towards improved competitiveness. However, it is clear that this salary will have to be increased in the coming years if it is to remain competitive. Whilst initiatives such as the levelling up premium may help...
Matched on
terms: area, retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
82match
#67 - Poor pupil behaviour has worsened since the pandemic, impacting learning and teacher retention.
Though the issue of poor pupil behaviour it not new, it has become worse since the pandemic with more disruptive pupil behaviour, school exclusions and suspensions. Poor behaviour not only undermines pupils learning and a positive classroom culture, but it also impacts teacher recruitment and retention. Reports of worsening behaviour have the potential to discourage prospective teachers from...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
82match
#37 - Addressing teacher shortages requires both recruitment and retention, supported by attrition data
High attrition rates in shortage subjects mean that a two-pronged approach is needed to address subject specific teacher shortages. This should look at the retention of existing teachers in addition to the recruitment of new teachers. Reliable data on the number of teachers leaving by subject and the reason for their departure are also needed, to better understand...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
82match
#61 - Growing pay disparity between school and college teachers undermines retention and recruitment
There is a growing pay disparity between school and college teachers in England, with college staff earning significantly less—on average college teachers earn 15% less. This issue has led to staff dissatisfaction and has contributed to the recruitment and retention crisis. Whilst school-teacher pay is centrally reviewed and funded, college teacher pay decisions can be fragmented and underfunded,...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
78match
#33 - Leadership-focused professional development limits teacher retention and non-leadership progression opportunities
We understand that when Continuing Professional Development is exclusively focused on leadership teacher retention can be undermined as teachers unwilling to take up such roles have limited opportunities for promotion or progression. We welcome the move towards more subject specific NPQs as well as the NPQ for special educational needs co-ordinator’s (SENco) that will be available from Autumn...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
77match
#39 - Subject-specific teacher shortages significantly compromise teaching quality and reduce subject provision.
We have significant concerns about the negative impacts of subject specific teacher shortages. These include compromising the quality of teaching where subjects are being taught by teachers without subject expertise and the reduction of subject provision where schools do not have sufficient specialist teaching capacity. We also heard that lack of specialist teachers can have an adverse impact...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
76match
#29 - First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to...
High quality teaching is particularly transformative for disadvantaged pupils. Over a school year, these pupils get 1.5 years’ worth of learning with high quality teachers, compared with 0.5 years with poorly performing teachers. To support the development of local teachers, we should incentivise highly commended initial teacher training providers (like Redcar and Cleveland TTP or Leicester and Leicestershire...
Matched on
terms: area, deprived, retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
74match
#11 - Review 'golden handcuffs' option and commission research on improving teacher retention.
Though concern remains about the retention of teachers in receipt of bursary funding. Evidence tells us that the current structure of bursaries offers sufficient value for money in terms of recruitment and retention, given that retention rates are similar for those who do and do not receive Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries. We recommend the Government keep the...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
73match
#6 - Low pay for support staff is hindering recruitment and retention in vital roles.
We welcome the most recent pay agreement for support staff; however, we have heard persistent concerns that low pay is resulting in difficulty recruiting and retaining staff in these vital roles which help both teachers and pupils and provide essential support to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
69match
#52 - Integrate successful flexible working approaches like job shares into the new recruitment and retention strategy.
The Department have told us they will put flexibility at the heart of the new recruitment and retention strategy. This should include the promotion of existing approaches to flexibility that have been proven to be successful such as job shares and part-time working. However, it is clear that the education sector faces unique challenges; these include the high...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
69match
#38 - Require collection and publication of teacher attrition data by subject and reason
The Department should collect and publish data on the attrition of teachers by subject, particularly those in their first 5 years of teaching. Data should also be collected on the reason teachers are leaving, to improve understanding of why particular subjects are experiencing higher attrition than others and to help target retention strategies as effectively as possible.
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
69match
#5 - Teacher pay requires competitive increases without adversely affecting other school budgets.
We understand the Department’s budgetary pressures. However, in order to compete with other sectors and improve recruitment and retention, teacher pay must keep pace year on year with other comparable sectors. It is also essential that funding to enable the continued competitiveness of teacher salaries does not adversely impact levels of funding elsewhere in the schools budget. (Paragraph...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
68match
#28 - First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to...
Good teachers who understand disadvantaged White students’ needs and who can be good role models are central to raising this group’s outcomes. We know that teaching quality is worse in disadvantaged areas than in wealthier areas, with schools less likely to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted for their quality of teaching. Schools in disadvantaged areas are...
Matched on
terms: area, teacher
NAO recommendation
66match
Teacher workforce: secondary and further education
DfE should consider what more it can do to encourage those undertaking teacher training to move into teaching jobs in the state-funded sector, and ensure the right type of students enrol on training, particularly for subjects that are seeing the greatest attrition.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
65match
#63 - Excessive teacher workload stems from a wide range of non-teaching tasks.
A wide range of non-teaching tasks are contributing to excessive teacher workload so efforts towards reducing teacher workload cannot be limited to reducing teaching hours or the Workload Reduction Toolkit. (Paragraph 259) 84 Teacher recruitment, training and retention
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
65match
#31 - Teacher workload and lack of time limit engagement with professional development
The opportunity to partake in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is crucial to teacher retention; we recognise, however, that pressure of workload and lack of spare time limits teachers’ engagement with CPD. We consider issues relating to teachers’ workload further in chapter 6.
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
64match
#47 - Reinstate funding for subject knowledge enhancement programmes in five axed subjects.
We strongly disagree with the Department’s decision to axe five subject options from the Department’s subject knowledge enhancement programme offering. Subject knowledge enhancement programmes are crucial in closing knowledge gaps to allow more people to teach in shortages subjects. We consider the removal of 82 Teacher recruitment, training and retention five subjects from this offering to undermine teacher...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
61match
#49 - Prioritise upskilling teachers as a mitigation strategy for subjects experiencing persistent shortages.
Upskilling should be used as a mitigation across subjects experiencing teacher shortages. For subjects such as Maths, a compulsory subject that has experienced persistent shortages in teacher supply it is even more pertinent that mitigations such as upskilling are used to manage teacher shortages.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
61match
#24 - Review decision to cut international relocation payments and protect current international trainee teachers.
We are disappointed about recent changes to the international relocation payment which will exclude trainee teachers from the 2024 and 2025 academic years. We viewed this payment as a positive intervention to encourage the recruitment and training of international teachers in key subjects and do not view this decision as a step in the right direction. We urge...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
61match
#20 - Encourage former teachers to return by introducing specific training and bursary routes.
The Department should encourage the return of former teachers into the profession by introducing and promoting specific training and bursary routes for returners. We also recommend that the Department reviews how returning teachers can be used to address current issues in the teacher workforce such as the shortage of secondary school teachers and teachers for specific subjects.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
60match
#33 - Twenty-First Report - School Funding
In its written evidence, the National Association of Head Teachers emphasised the need to improve salaries for teachers and school leaders as a critical element of any strategy to resolve the “longstanding recruitment and retention crisis”. It said that schools did not have the fiscal headroom to reverse the real-terms decline in the salaries of teachers and leaders,...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
60match
#43 - Expand Levelling Up Premium and Early Career Payments based on subject and regional demand.
We recognise the positive impact both the Early Career and Levelling Up Premium Payments can have in improving teacher retention in subjects that are experiencing teacher shortages. In line with earlier recommendations in this report the Department should expand the Levelling Up Premium and Early Career Payments according to subject and regional demand. The eligibility criteria for these...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#1 - Teacher numbers remain insufficient despite absolute increase, with missed recruitment targets.
There are now over 468,000 teachers which we accept as an improvement in absolute terms though not relative to pupil numbers. However, we recognise that this is still insufficient, particularly when we know recruitment targets continue to be missed, the number of teacher vacancies doubled between 2020 and 2022 and that secondary pupil numbers are expected to peak...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#48 - Inconsistent upskilling opportunities undermine potential to mitigate subject teacher shortages.
Beyond the specific subject knowledge enhancement programmes that may be delivered within initial teacher training, upskilling is a useful and effective way for non-specialist teachers to gain the necessary knowledge to teach certain subjects once qualified. This approach has the potential to significantly mitigate the impact of subject specific teacher shortages. However, the current inconsistency of opportunities to...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#42 - Increase the value of lower-valued bursaries for subjects with persistent teacher shortages.
As discussed previously in this report, we have heard convincing evidence about the importance of interventions such as bursaries in targeting recruitment to subjects where there are teacher shortages. Bursaries should continue to be targeted towards subjects where there are shortages and shortages subjects should continually be reviewed to ensure bursaries remain where recruitment is most needed. The...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#41 - Publish detailed data on regional subject teacher shortages to inform financial incentives expansion.
The Department should collect and publish data on regional subject shortages in teacher supply. This data should be used to inform the expansion of financial incentives such as the Early Career Payment and Levelling Up Premium according to where there are overlaps in regional and subject shortages.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#40 - Limited understanding of overlapping teacher shortages hinders effective targeting of financial incentives.
We know subject specific and regional teacher shortages persist and we acknowledge the Department’s interventions to address this. However, we have heard that there is limited data and understanding of how these shortages interact and where they overlap. Further analysis is needed to better target financial incentives, Initial Teacher Education provision and the Early Career Framework mentor programme.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#16 - Teacher apprenticeship routes remain underutilised, requiring expansion to grow the workforce.
We welcome the Department’s plan to introduce a non-graduate apprenticeship, specifically for experienced non-teaching staff alongside the existing graduate apprenticeship, as an opportunity to recruit non-graduates who are already working within the education sector into teaching. However, we are concerned that fewer than 1000 people have taken an apprenticeship route into teaching since 2019. Which suggest this remains...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
57match
#9 - Targeted bursaries improve teacher recruitment but negatively impact non-bursary subjects.
Where available, bursaries and scholarships improve teacher recruitment. We heard strong evidence that bursaries should be targeted where they will be most effective, such as for subjects with longstanding under-recruitment, subjects where demand is expected to increase and subjects that have particularly competitive job markets. However, we also heard concerns about the negative impact of targeted financial incentives...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
56match
#19 - Rethink decision to cut Now Teach funding and introduce specific bursaries for career changers.
The Department should urgently rethink the decision to cut funding for Now Teach as career changers are an important group that have the potential to positively contribute towards improving secondary teacher numbers. Further, the Department should introduce more paid routes into teaching and a bursary specifically for those making a career change. The value of this bursary should...
Matched on
terms: retention, teacher
Committee recommendation
56match
#18 - Reverse decision to remove Now Teach funding, utilising all channels for recruitment.
Given the extent of the teacher recruitment challenge, in particular severe shortages being faced in certain secondary school subjects (see chapter 5) the Department should be using all available channels to recruit specialist secondary teachers. The decision to remove funding from Now Teach undermines efforts to improve teacher recruitment.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
53match
#61 - Accountability pressures significantly contribute to teachers' non-teaching workload, hindering reduction efforts.
It is evident that accountability pressures contribute to additional non-teaching workload for teachers with perceived expectations undermining efforts to implement best practice around reducing workload. This persists despite guidance from the Department.
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
53match
#57 - Accelerate efforts to reduce teacher working hours sooner than the current target.
We welcome the progress made towards reducing teachers working hours, acknowledging that the 5-hour reduction between 2016 and 2019 was a move in the right direction. However, workload remains a top concern for teachers. We welcome the Department’s ambition to reduce working hours by a further 5 hours but urge that this needs to be achieved much sooner...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
53match
#15 - Teacher recruitment efforts overly focus on graduates, neglecting other potential groups.
The Department’s recruitment efforts currently focus heavily on new graduates. However more needs to be done to encourage recruitment from other groups. There should be more and clearer pathways for groups such as non-graduates, former military personnel and those interested in changing their career to teaching at a later stage of their life and returning former teachers who...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
53match
#13 - Monitor attrition of retention payment recipients to understand the "postponement effect".
The Department should also monitor the attrition of those who receive these payments. This would improve understanding of whether there is a “postponement effect” amongst recipients, where they leave the profession once these payments stop. (Paragraph 74) Alternative routes into teaching
Matched on
terms: retention
Committee recommendation
52match
#7 - Twenty-First Report - School Funding
There has also been a relative re-distribution of funding from more deprived schools (those with a higher proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals) to less deprived schools. Between 2017–18 and 2020–21, average per-pupil funding for the most deprived fifth of schools fell in real terms by 1.2% to £5,177, while funding for the least deprived fifth...
Matched on
terms: deprived
Committee recommendation
52match
#34 - Expand subject-specific National Professional Qualifications and establish clearer career progression pathways
The Department should build on improvements in its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offering and there should be more scope in the system for teachers to gain and maintain seniority through subject specialism. The Department should expand its subject specific NPQ offering beyond numeracy and literacy and establish clearer career progression pathways for teachers who want to focus on...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
48match
#32 - Twenty-First Report - School Funding
In September 2019, the Government set out its intention that salaries for new teachers would rise to £30,000 nationally by September 2022. It stated that this increase would make teacher pay among the most competitive in the graduate labour market.46 However, at the 2020 Spending Review, the Government announced that pay rises in the public sector would be...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
48match
#8 - Twenty-First Report - School Funding
The written evidence that we received raised concerns about the impact of the national funding formula. Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope said that the formula had not delivered the expected significant increases in funding for small schools, including rural schools which have traditionally struggled to remain sustainable.8 The NASUWT (The Teachers’ Union) described the formula as “regressive”, and said that...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
48match
#6 - Twenty-First Report - School Funding
The Department cannot say when it will implement its commitment to a starting salary of £30,000 for new teachers. In September 2019, the Government set out its intention that salaries for new teachers would rise to £30,000 by September 2022, in order to improve the competitiveness of teacher pay. In February 2021, it told the School Teachers’ Review...
Matched on
terms: teacher
Committee recommendation
36match
#12 - Forty-Seventh Report - Academies Sector Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20
We asked the Department about the regional differences in the financial health of the sector. In 2019/20, 8% of academy trusts in the North of England were in a cumulative deficit compared with 2% in South East England & South London.26 The Department informed us that the number of trusts in cumulative deficit were “quite small” and that...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
36match
#51 - Education sector lags behind other professions in adopting flexible working opportunities.
Since the pandemic, flexible working has been widely embraced across different professions and sectors of the economy. However, this has not been replicated in the education sector. If the education sector is to remain competitive, particularly in the recruitment of graduates, more must be done to increase opportunities for flexible working in schools.
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
36match
#10 - Introduce lower bursary offerings for shortage subjects and promote non-bursary teaching vocations.
Bursaries should continue to be targeted according to under-recruitment so the subjects struggling the most with recruitment receive the highest bursaries. However, additionally, the Department should introduce lower bursary offerings for shortage subjects where there is no existing offer alongside continuing to promote non-bursary subjects through broad, above-the-line advertising that focuses on teaching as a vocation more generally.
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
36match
#8 - Complete review of unfunded support staff pay increases and allocate sufficient funding.
We recommend the Department complete a review into the cumulative impact of excluding funding for support staff pay increases from school funding allocations. Further, going forward, the wage growth of support staff must be factored into school budgets and the Department must allocate sufficient funding to schools to cover the growth of support staff salaries.
Matched on
classifier match