Diversity of teaching staff in primary schools stalls

More than half (55%) of primary schools in Britain have no ethnic minority teaching staff, and 30% do not have any male teachers in the classroom, research has found.

According to a study from the University of Warwick, a quarter of UK schools only have white female teachers. This means pupils are “missing out by not having teachers that represent them”, said Joshua Fullard, assistant professor at Warwick Business School.

The study revealed that the proportion of schools with no diversity among staff has fallen since 2010, but Professor Fullard said the data showed “the highly limited progress being made on diversity in the classroom”.

In March, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) warned that the recruitment market for teachers in England was in a “critical state”, with the number of teachers considering leaving the profession up by 44%.

This followed another report from the NFER in January claiming that teachers of colour face an “invisible glass ceiling”.

It found that despite being overrepresented among applicants for initial teacher training in England, ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the classroom, especially at senior levels.

According to the University of Warwick, the proportion of primary schools with no ethnic minority teachers fell by only 1 percentage point in 2023 compared with the year before.

Almost nine in 10 (87%) did not have a senior leader from an ethnic minority background in 2023. Almost half (46.5%) did not have a male senior leadership team member.

Professor Fullard said the lack of diversity among teaching staff “will worsen existing gaps in attainment and inequality in adulthood”.

“This data shows the highly limited progress being made on diversity in the classroom, with slow progress in achieving a representative pool of teachers,” he added.

The proportion of male teachers in primary schools is also declining year-on-year, the research found, a trend that could impact staffing for science, maths and technology subjects, where the the pool of graduates to recruit from is predominantly male.

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The data for the report was obtained via a series of freedom of information requests.

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