A research and policy analysis from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think-tank says that ministers must focus their policies on teacher retention just as much as teacher recruitment.
However, it warns that efforts by successive governments to tackle high teacher workloads – recognised as one of the key barriers to retention – have failed. Working hours have increased for England’s teachers and are longer than in many other developed nations.
The teacher recruitment crisis is being driven by three factors – the increasing numbers quitting the profession, a lower number of people choosing to train as a teacher, and the rising number of pupils.
The EPI analysis says that between 2010 and 2016, exit rates in secondary schools rose from 9.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent – 60 per cent of these were after just five years of training and 80 per cent were to other jobs.
Teacher entrants have also dropped “significantly”, with applications to teacher training down by a third. Government recruitment figures published in late 2017 show that of an estimated 18,725 post-graduates needed to begin secondary teacher training in 2017/18, only 14,990 were recruited – about 80 per cent. Just two subjects (history and PE) hit recruitment targets.
Finally, the number of secondary school pupils is expected to grow by 20 per cent in the next eight years or so – from 2.8 million in 2017 to 3.33 million by 2025 – meaning the number of teachers also needs to grow by a similar proportion if we are to prevent class sizes from rising.
The EPI analysis – complied by research fellow Luke Sibieta – says that there is “strong empirical evidence” from the US that retention rates can be improved with “targeted financial incentives” in shortage subjects. Schools do have the freedom to make such payments but the report warns that they are constrained by budget pressures.
It quotes schemes from North Carolina and Florida that have proved successful and a subsequent research analysis from the Gatsby Foundation found that supplements of around five per cent for early years physics teachers would have likely eliminated the shortage we have seen in this subject had they been introduced in 2010.
On workload, the report adds: “The other important factor is workload. Teacher working hours have been increasing over time and, as EPI analysis has shown, are longer, on average, than many other countries.
“The government has recently announced new efforts to reduce teacher workload. However, governments have announced repeated efforts to do something about teacher workload in recent years, without much success to date.”
Elsewhere, the report argues that student loan reimbursement schemes, which have been mooted as one possible solution to recruitment and retention issues, are “complex” and would be of little benefit to most teachers at the start of their careers.
Natalie Perera, executive director and head of research at the EPI, said: “This analysis raises several concerns for teaching quality and the future sustainability of the workforce. While government efforts to boost recruitment are to be welcomed, growing shortages are likely to be tackled most effectively by focusing on retaining the existing workforce.
“Some subjects in particular are seeing acute shortages in the number of quality teachers. If the government wishes to ease these growing pressures and safeguard educational standards, it should consider policies which offer financial and other incentives to teachers in these subjects early on in their career”.
- The Teacher Labour Market: A perilous path ahead? Education Policy Institute, April 2018: http://bit.ly/2HF3yCy