In her first week in post, Ms Phillipson has begun work on the Labour Party’s election manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers.
She has also written an open letter to the teaching profession (DfE, 2024) in which she acknowledges the challenging situation facing many schools and their communities.
The letter cites school funding, teacher workload, recruitment and retention, SEN provision, and mental health services, among other challenges.
However, at the time of writing, the new education secretary has failed to address one of the most pressing issues – this September’s teachers’ pay settlement.
She wrote: “A huge part of my role is to understand the scale of the challenges you are facing, and the support needed to fix them. The scar of child poverty, severe financial pressures squeezing all your budgets, high workload, climbing vacancy rates, strain on care, mental health and SEND services, among many other issues, have made your jobs increasingly difficult.
“This is a tough inheritance – none of these have quick and easy solutions but I will work with and for you to find practical ways forward.”
The National Education Union (NEU) said it was looking forward to “starting a journey of renewal with government” but made it clear this week that action on pay was key
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) submitted its pay recommendations to the Department for Education (DfE) earlier this year. However, the election put paid to any hopes of a rapid response from ministers.
The NEU has previously demanded a “major correction” in teacher pay in light of the impact of the cost of living crisis and inflation – which has all but wiped out last year’s 6.5% pay increase. However, the previous government had called for pay “restraint”.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “The pay issue is on her desk. It was a complete abdication of (former education secretary) Gillian Keegan's duty not to publish the STRB report. We need to know what teachers are being offered this year, and headteachers must be able to plan budgets.
“The NEU is calling on the new secretary of state to right the wrong of Gillian Keegan and to immediately publish the pay review body report and the government’s 2024/25 pay and funding offer.”
Meanwhile, education unions have welcomed Ms Phillipson’s open letter including its promise to work with the profession. Ms Phillipson wrote: “We will work with you as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission. I want to renew the trust and respect we hold for each other. My commitment to you is to listen, to draw on your wealth of experience and to act on your honest feedback.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The past few years have been marked by too much division and discord. Leaders and teachers have too often felt unsupported and have been on the receiving end of poorly conceived policies with cursory consultation.
“A collaborative approach between the DfE and unions and professional associations is crucial to navigating the myriad challenges facing the education system and the nation.
“We appreciate the secretary of state’s recognition of the immense challenges faced by our members, including financial pressures, workload issues, and the need for increased support in areas such as SEND. We recognise that none of these problems have quick and easy solutions. Nevertheless, those solutions must be found.”
Mr Di’Iasio warned that as well as the recruitment and retention crisis, school funding remained “a critical concern for schools and colleges”.
He added: “We fully support the new government’s initial intention to recruit 6,500 new teachers and we recommend implementing policies that enhance professional development, offer competitive salaries, and improve working conditions to ensure that teaching remains an attractive and sustainable profession.”
The DfE’s first announcement since the election came on Monday (July 8) and focused on the pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers.
Among initial actions, the DfE says it is to “resume and expand existing recruitment campaigns” as part of a plan to “transform the image of teaching”. This includes “immediately” resuming and expanding its flagship teacher recruitment campaign, Every Lesson Shapes a Life. The further education recruitment campaign, Share Your Skills, is also to be restarted.
Every Lesson Shapes a Life directs potential candidates to the Get into Teaching website, where they can access support and advice from teacher training advisors. The campaign has a core target audience of 18 to 29-year-olds.
The DfE has not put a precise timescale on its 6,500 recruitment target, but in making her announcement, Ms Phillipson said: “We will work urgently to recruit thousands of brilliant new teachers and reset the relationship between government and the education workforce. For too long the teaching profession has been talked down, sidelined and denigrated.”
It comes after the latest workforce figures showed that around 80,000 teachers have quit teaching for reasons other than retirement in the last two years. And the sixth annual Teacher Labour Market research earlier this year warned that teacher supply at secondary level is in “critical state” with “ambitious, radical and cost-effective” policy options “urgently needed”.
Both the NEU and NASUWT are pushing for an independent commission to be established to tackle issues such as recruitment, retention and teachers’ pay.
Mr Kebede added: “The teacher recruitment and retention crisis is deep and severe. Workload is an enormous challenge too – teaching is simply not compatible with family life anymore. The NEU will be asking the new secretary of state to establish an independent commission into recruitment and retention that could make recommendations to restore the profession over the course of this Parliament."
- DfE: Letter to the education workforce from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, July 2024: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/07/08/letter-to-the-education-workforce-from-education-secretary-bridget-phillipson/