Teacher shortages at crisis point

More than 9 in 10 schools in England are experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has warned that shortages have reached crisis point

An ASCL survey of 766 state-sector school and college headteachers and principals found:

• 95% have been experiencing difficulty in recruiting teachers, with 43% saying it is “severe”.

• 72% of these are using supply staff to cover for vacancies; 69% are using non-subject specialists to teach classes; and 31% said pupils were having to be taught in larger classes.

• Physics was the most commonly cited subject where recruitment was difficult, followed by maths, design and technology, chemistry and computing.

• Nearly two-thirds (65%) have been experiencing difficulty with teacher retention. The most common reasons were workload pressures, which are driven by government underfunding of schools and colleges together with an excessive accountability system, and pay levels, which have been eroded by a fifth in real-terms since 2010.

• 92% also reported difficulties in recruiting support staff – leaving many schools and colleges with serious challenges across their workforces.

The survey comes ahead of the expected recommendation of the teacher pay award for 2022/23 before the end of the summer term. The government has proposed a two-year pay award of 3% then 2% for many experienced teachers and leaders – below RPI inflation running at 11.7% and following a pay freeze in the current academic year.

General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said: “Teacher recruitment and retention has been extremely difficult for many years but our survey shows it is currently at crisis point.

“Many schools and colleges are left with no alternative but to plug gaps with supply staff and non-subject specialists. In several cases, they have had to increase class sizes or cut subject options. The crisis extends to support staff where recruitment is also very difficult.

“The underlying problem is easy to diagnose – the real value of teacher and school leader pay has fallen by a fifth since 2010, and schools and colleges are under huge pressure because of funding constraints. Teacher training targets are therefore routinely missed and nearly a third of teachers quit within five years of qualifying.

“The situation is desperate. The government must work with the sector on a properly joined-up strategy to improve recruitment and retention which is underpinned by decent pay and improved funding for schools and colleges. If we cannot put teachers in front of classes every other target and aspiration is rendered meaningless”.