Another year, another alarming on the state of the teacher labour market. The blaring headlines are variations on familiar glaring themes.
Secondary recruitment in 2024/25 was almost 40 per cent below target, and primary has also failed to meet its target for the third year in a row. While there is a perception that workload has decreased over the past decade, it is still cited as a major issue.
While state school funding dropped 9 per cent in the decade before the pandemic, it is clear that a decent pay rise alone won’t fix what is ailing the profession. The growing problem cited alongside workload is pupil behaviour. This is another of the long-term effects of the pandemic which is still washing through schools – and which the national consciousness remains resistant to recognizing.Â
This June’s spending review is the last chance saloon for this government.
I was reflecting on the long-term effects of the pandemic again earlier this term during our admissions process. The pupils coming through our doors for 11+ were in infant school during the pandemic, and for some the challenges of working with others, listening and simply being able to sit to do a test or eat a snack still were all too acute. Last week I refreshed my DSL training, and was reminded of the increasing role that schools are expected to play in ensuring not only that children are educated and safe, but also that they are fed and socialized. It is against this backdrop that teachers are making decisions about their own futures.
The most startling (if unsurprising) graph in the NFER report is actually on on page 29, and it shows the percentage of teachers working from home compared to similar graduates. For teachers the WFH option was bumping along the bottom of the x axis, while further towards the top right, 44 per cent of their peers could expect some flexible working. This, combined with the fact that the majority of the 9.6 per cent of state sector teacher leavers were not retiring, has to ring alarm bells. Yes, teachers have longer holidays, but who can blame them for taking a hard look at how they are spending the 35 to 40 weeks that they are in the classroom?
What can be done? In the independent sector we are all only too familiar with Labour’s target to recruit 6,500 more teachers, because VAT on our school fees is to pay for it. The NFER report points out that this June’s spending review is the last chance saloon for this government if it is to move the dial on recruitment and retention during this Parliament.
If our pupils aren’t exactly a joy to be around, who is going to see the value of taking them to a fixture or a debating competition?
Suggestions include more flexible working arrangements, or allowing teachers to go home during PPA time. Permitting autonomy where it is feasible is something the independent sector recognizes as a strength, but for most of our schools this is offset by the expectation of discretionary effort and/or weekend working in some form or another.
Here too maintaining standards of good behaviour is key: if our pupils aren’t exactly a joy to be around, who is going to see the value of taking them to a fixture or a debating competition, let alone care for them in a residential setting?
The report recognizes that there is a limit to what a career which is centred around the supervision of other people’s children can offer here. But this fundamentally is a values-driven profession which is about relationships. What decent pay and good both behaviour do is to provide affirmation and dignity to the teaching profession.
