The Department for Education ‘lacks a coherent plan’ to meet the teacher recruitment goals pledged by the government.
According to the Public Accounts Committee, the government’s promise to recruit 6,500 new teachers by 2029 is not backed up by sufficient evidence of how it will improve teacher recruitment and retention.
Its report found that the DfE does not understand the root causes behind the main factors for teachers leaving their jobs, with workload and pupil behaviour cited as the key challenges.
PAC’s inquiry found that the proportion of ex-teachers citing pupil behaviour as a reason for leaving rose from 32% to 44% in one year alone (2023 to 2024).
Teacher recruitment
And while the DfE aims to address the issue through new attendance and behaviour hubs, only 17% of schools and colleges have signed its wellbeing charter.
The Committee also said it was unclear as to how the department considered pay alongside other initiatives.
It found that, while the DfE recognised that pay is an important incentive to attract teachers, it had not assessed whether initiatives such as the Early Career Framework programme provided better outcomes than simply increasing pay.
It concluded that the DfE had considered the value for money of certain incentives, but not measured this against the impact of pay increases.
How the government will deliver 6,500 more teachers is “unclear”, according to PAC, and there is no indication how progress will be measured or what this will mean for current and forecast teacher shortages.
“DfE could give no clear explanation of how the pledge was calculated or how it will fill existing teacher gaps, with an estimated need for up to 12,400 more teachers in colleges alone by 2028/29,” it said.
The committee has called for more information on how the “most critical” teacher gaps will be filled, and insists that shortages in further education are given “urgent need”.
It also highlighted the particular recruitment and retention challenges faced by schools in deprived areas, with 34% of teachers in the most disadvantaged areas having less than five years’ experience, compared to 20% in the least disadvantaged.
Committee member Sarah Olney MP said: “It cannot be said enough that teachers up and down the country deserve our heartfelt thanks for the job they do.
“Our report is the latest confirmation that this job is increasingly done in difficult circumstances, with workload burdens and challenging pupil behaviour some of the key drivers of teachers leaving the profession.
“The DfE told us that teaching quality makes more of a difference than teacher quantity. As reassuring arguments go, this seems difficult to believe when faced with the absence of any kind of teaching at all in certain subjects, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas.”
PAC wants the government to take a “serious look” at working conditions, flexible arrangements and increased pay for teachers.
Olney added: “The debate around these issues has a long history, and is far from over.
“If the recommendations in our report are followed, the government will have an explicit answer, based on its own analysis and evidence, on whether it is time to offer teachers more flexibility, and/or to pay them more.”
Jack Worth, education lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research, said it was “critical” that the government came up with a comprehensive plan.
“Schools are anxious to see the details of the government’s plan for supporting teacher supply,” he said.
“Addressing the teacher supply challenges in secondary and further education requires a strategic and targeted approach to improving the attractiveness of the teaching profession in key subjects and particularly in disadvantaged areas.”
“NFER’s research echoes the importance of building a strategy around the key factors for recruitment and retention raised in this report, including teacher workload, pupil behaviour, a lack of access to flexible working arrangements and teacher pay and incentives.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “Since day one, the education secretary has worked to reset the relationship with the education sector, announcing pay awards of almost 10% over two years and committed to tackle high workload and poor wellbeing including encouraging schools to offer more flexible working opportunities.
“We are committed to working with teachers as partners in the push for better, driving high and rising standards through our Plan for Change to enable every child to achieve and thrive.”
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