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Recruitment crisis: We need a radical change to accountability

Recruitment & Retention Pay and conditions Government policy Whole-school issues Teaching staff
If we are to end the recruitment and retention crisis we must radically alter the accountability system – it is that simple, says Dr Mary Bousted

There can no longer be any doubt that there is a crisis in teaching.

Teacher training applications are down a third on last year’s numbers, a catastrophic decline, compounding a five-year failure by the Department for Education to reach its teacher recruitment targets (UCAS, December 2017).

The government’s response has gone from complacent (there are more teachers in schools than ever before), to anxious (let’s unleash lots of small initiatives and hope that does the trick – it hasn’t and they won’t), to very worried indeed.

The problem with teacher supply has been long in the making. It is a result of a toxic mix of government policies which have undermined and demoralised teachers and school leaders.

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