Further education teachers are paid almost a quarter less than their peers elsewhere in the sector, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research.
They also tend to earn less than their peers in industry jobs where they began their trades, and these gaps have widened over the past decade, the NFER found.
NFER’s report, Building a stronger FE workforce, highlights the difference in salaries as just one element of the battle to recruit and retain further education teachers.
Commissioned by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the analysis was based on interviews with FE college teachers and heads of department in the construction, engineering and digital sectors.
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FE teachers highlighted how they felt teaching was a fulfilling role with benefits compared to working in industry or self-employment, including pension benefits and longer holidays. In construction, teachers mentioned “more sociable, less irregular hours” as an advantage.
However, engineering and digital teachers in FE earned 11% less than those working in industry in 2021, based on the government’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
In construction, FE teachers earned 3% less than in industry, though this excludes pay in self-employment, which could make the pay gap larger.
A further issue was that the pay drop between industry and teaching often prevented younger workers from making the move, leading to an ageing workforce.
The analysis found that some colleges were recruiting teachers at the top of pay scales to attract them into the role, but this in turn led to subsequent poor pay progression and impacted on morale and retention.
Teachers featured in the report also complained of high workloads and having to complete a lot of unfulfilling administration work. Other challenges included student behaviour and mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic.
The NFER is calling for the government to allocate more funding to the FE sector so it can at least match teacher pay in secondary schools. It also wants the Department for Education to commit to a long-term recruitment and retention strategy for FE.
NFER economist and report co-author, Dawson McLean, said: “Further Education plays a key part in England’s education system by delivering the technical and academic training vital to the supply of skilled workers.
“However, a historical lack of policy focus on the FE workforce, alongside insufficient funding for colleges to maintain competitive teacher pay, has led to enormous challenges.
Worsening pay gaps between industry and school teachers, together with high workload, puts the FE workforce at a significant disadvantage for recruitment and retention.
“The new government has made a strong commitment to improving school teacher supply in England. This commitment should apply equally to the FE workforce.”
Jenifer Burden, director of programmes at Gatsby, said teacher issues in the report’s featured sectors was a “persistent issue”.
“Nationally nearly half of FE teachers leave the profession within three years. Pay is a significant factor but other elements impact on teachers’ choices. We need better data about the numbers of individuals training for FE teaching and their experience,” she added.
“We hope that this research can be used to stimulate consideration of how pay decisions on FE teacher pay can be approached, much like the work of the School Teachers’ Review Body for school teachers, to inform critical policy decisions.”
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