High teacher leaving rates and ‘sluggish’ recruitment affecting pupils – report
The Government has a ‘now or never’ moment to demonstrate that it will deliver its pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, the NFER has said.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Persistently high teacher leaving rates and “sluggish” recruitment in England have led to larger class sizes and a greater reliance on unqualified staff, a report has suggested.
The forthcoming spending review is a “crucial opportunity” for the Government to provide the resources needed to deliver its target to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of the parliament, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
There are “growing signs” of teacher shortages in schools having a negative impact on the quality of education for pupils in England, the report warned.
The number of unfilled teaching vacancies in state schools reached six vacancies per thousand teachers in service in 2023/24 – which is double the pre-pandemic rate, the NFER said.
Meanwhile, 15% of secondary pupils were in classes of more than 30 in 2023/24, up from 10% in 2015/16.
The report comes after Government figures in December showed that the number of entrants to primary school teacher training in England had fallen.
The Department for Education (DfE) data showed that 88% of the Government’s initial teacher training (ITT) target for primary schools was reached in 2024/25, down from 94% in 2023/24.
The Government achieved just 62% of its postgraduate secondary ITT recruitment target in 2024/25 – and it did not meet its recruitment targets for 12 out of 17 secondary school subjects.
The NFER has predicted that the pattern of under-recruitment in primary and most secondary school subjects is “likely to continue” in 2025/26.
The report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, said: “Sluggish recruitment and persistently high leaving rates have led to real impacts on schools and pupils.”
It added: “Schools have also become more reliant on unqualified teachers to fill gaps in their workforce, while non-specialist teachers teaching secondary subjects like maths and physics have become more common.”
This year is a “now or never” moment for the Government to demonstrate that it will deliver its manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, it said.
The report said: “The Government’s focus on recruiting 6,500 additional teachers is a welcome acknowledgement of the threat to educational quality posed by the worsening teacher supply challenge in England.
“However, delivering on this ambition by the end of the current parliament will require significant, focused policy action.
“Policy measures also take time to lead to impact in schools, so the time for action is now.”
Last year, school teachers in England were offered a fully funded 5.5% pay rise for 2024/25.
The DfE said in December – in written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) – that a 2.8% pay rise for teachers in 2025/26 would “maintain the competitiveness of teachers’ pay”.
But the NFER report has suggested that a 2.8% pay rise from September would be “a missed opportunity to make further gains on teacher pay”.
It has called for a 2025/26 pay award for teachers which exceeds 3%, as well as increases in spending on financial incentives targeting shortage subjects.
The Government’s spending review should deliver rises in the schools budget necessary to increase teacher pay by at least 6.1% from 2026/27 to 2028/29, the NFER added.
The report also warned that pupil behaviour has become “one of the fastest-growing contributors to teacher workload” since the pandemic, and a lack of access to flexible working arrangements “may be contributing” to teachers leaving the profession.
Report co-author Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the NFER, said: “Teacher recruitment and retention in England remain in a perilous state, posing a substantial risk to the quality of education.
“The time for half measures is over. Fully funded pay increases that make teacher pay more competitive are essential to keeping teachers in the classroom and attracting new recruits.
“The upcoming spending review provides the Government with the ideal opportunity to show its long-term commitment to increase the attractiveness of teaching.
“Both schools and the Government are facing budgetary challenges, so making this happen is going to need careful planning.”
The NFER report recommended that the Government should develop a new approach for supporting schools to improve pupil behaviour, and it said school leaders should consider adopting a wider range of flexible working practices in their schools to improve teacher retention.
It added that both the Government’s curriculum and assessment review and proposed reforms to Ofsted inspections could increase teacher workload and worsen retention if not carefully implemented.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “These stark findings reflect the severe staffing crisis school leaders are grappling with day in day out.
“When schools do not have the teachers or leaders they need, with the best will in the world, children’s education inevitably suffers.
“This report sends a clear message to the Government that it needs to go further and faster in not only doing more to attract new teachers, but also in retaining existing talent and, critically, experience.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “The Government must heed this warning before it is too late.
“We are far beyond the point where small steps and half measures can address the scale of the recruitment and retention crisis in education.
“The Government’s target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers is a step in the right direction, but there is no clear plan for achieving it.
“Success will require action on a scale far greater than anything seen so far.”
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “The Government can be in no doubt that a failure to deliver on pay and working conditions will only lead to a further decline in teacher numbers and a deterioration in the quality of education provided to children and young people.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “Recruiting and keeping great teachers in our classrooms is vital to improving life chances for all children. We are committed to resetting the relationship with the education workforce and working alongside them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession.
“Work has already begun, as part of our Plan for Change, to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers, including making £233 million available next year to encourage more talented people into the classroom to teach subjects including maths, physics, chemistry and computing.
“On top of the 5.5% pay award announced last year, we are also taking steps to support teachers’ well-being and ease workload pressures including encouraging schools to allow their staff to work more flexibly so more teachers stay in the profession.”
