On 23 March 2023 the National Foundation for Educational Research published its annual report into teacher labour market.
The report highlights how the recruitment and retention challenge has intensified significantly since the pandemic.
Findings include:
- Recruitment to initial teacher training last year was substantially below the estimated number of teachers required to ensure adequate staffing in schools
- The number of teacher vacancies posted by schools has doubled since the pandemic
- A key driver of falling recruitment and retention is pay
- Hours worked and perceived workload remain higher than for similar graduates outside teaching
- The ability to work from home remains very limited which may be a competitive threat while the prevalence of working from home in other professions remains high
- Placed ITT (Initial Teacher Training) applicants as of February 2023 are slightly lower that at the same point last year. At the current pace primary and nine out of 17 secondary subjects are expected to be 20% or more below target this year
The report has been published a few days after a new enquiry was launched by the Education Select Committee into teacher recruitment, training and retention. You can submit your own response until 21 April 2023.
