Teacher recruitment and retention

Responding to NAHT recent article about teacher recruitment and retention a Department for Education spokesperson said: 

“The Education Secretary has been clear that there are no great schools without great teachers. Despite there being more than 450,000 teachers – 11,900 more than in 2011 – with increasing numbers returning to the profession, it is his top priority is to make sure teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession.

“That’s exactly why we published the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which provides teachers with more early careers support and opportunities for flexible and part-time working, to ensure we continue to attract and retain more great teachers.

“We are also ensuring teachers are fairly rewarded and recently announced a rise of up to 3.5% for classroom teachers, funded by a £500 million Government grant, in addition to the tax-free bursaries worth up to £26,000 for trainee teachers in priority subjects.”

The teacher recruitment and retention strategy will deliver on the Education Secretary’s commitment to championing the profession and will build on the 30,000 classroom teachers the government aims to recruit each year, support the 450,000 teachers already working in schools in England, and boost outcomes for pupils by:

• Providing new teachers with the foundations for a successful career – By creating the Early Career Framework, the biggest teaching reform in a generation, backed by at least £130m a year in extra funding when fully rolled out. New teachers will receive a two-year package of training and support at the start of their career, including a reduced timetable to allow teachers to make the most of their training. Extra investment will also be pledged, through the £42m Teacher Development Premium, to roll-out the Early Career Framework more quickly in Bradford, Doncaster, Greater Manchester and the North East.
• Simplifying the process of applying to become a teacher – introducing a new one-stop application system to make applications easier for would-be teachers and making it easier for more people to experience classroom teaching.
• Helping school leaders to reduce teachers’ workload – by helping school leaders strip away unnecessary tasks such as data entry; simplifying the accountability system to clarify when a school may be subject to intervention or offered support; and working with Ofsted to ensure staff workload is considered as part of a school’s inspection judgement.
• Creating a more diverse range of options for career progression – helping schools to introduce flexible working practices through a new match-making service for teachers seeking a job-share and developing specialist qualifications and non-leadership career routes for teachers that want to stay in the classroom, with additional incentives to work in challenging schools.