12/06/23
3 min read
Teacher shortages and retention rates are affecting the education system. Emily Tanner, Education Programme Head at the Nuffield Foundation asks: where next for the workforce?
The teaching profession is widely recognised as being in crisis. Issues including pay, working conditions and stress are undermining the workforce and putting the quality of student learning at risk.
Teacher salaries, retention rates and resources
Morale amongst teachers is low. Schools across the UK are struggling to fill vacancies as retention rates drop. Fewer people are joining the profession and training targets are being missed, storing up more problems for the future. A protracted pay dispute has resulted in strike action across all four nations of the UK, with teachers citing the impact of cost of living pressures on their own families as well as the children they teach. While school funding levels have now returned to 2010 levels, school resources remain squeezed, making it harder for teachers to do their jobs.
The role of Ofsted has come under renewed criticism in response to the death of the headteacher Ruth Perry following the downgrading of her school, with wider evidence of the detrimental mental health impacts of the expanding roles and responsibilities of teachers.
While large parts of the workforce now enjoy increased flexibility post-pandemic, teachers typically work longer hours than other graduate professionals and lack the ability to work from home.
The impact on educational inequality and academic performance
The state of the teacher workforce is important for teachers themselves, but it also has profound implications for children’s learning and attainment. Where roles are unfilled, students may be taught by non-specialists or school leaders (taking them away from important management duties). They may also be offered fewer subject choices and extracurricular activities, limiting their opportunities and potential.
Schools in disadvantaged areas struggle the most to attract teachers. The shortages are likely to worsen the disadvantage gap, which widened during the Covid years, reduce social mobility and have a negative impact on the economy.
Upcoming event: What’s behind the teacher workforce crisis? A look at current challenges and future solutions
The Nuffield Foundation has been funding research into education for many years, and it tells us that high-quality teaching has a positive, long-term impact on pupils. With so many teachers under strain, the inherent risk is that children’s learning and life chances will suffer.
At our teacher workforce event, Nuffield-funded researchers Jack Worth (NFER), Dr Emma Duchini (University of Essex), Dr Bernardita Munoz-Chereau (UCL) and Prof John Jerrim (UCL) will share evidence that helps get to the heart of the difficulties facing the profession. They’ll address factors that are contributing to the crisis by affecting decisions to enter, stay or leave teaching including pay, the impact of Ofsted inspections and grading, and health and well-being. Their various research projects show, for example:
- Teacher pay has fallen in real terms since 2010
- Hours worked by teachers are higher than in similar professions, and compared to teachers in many other countries
- Recruitment in STEM subjects is particularly low
- Post-pandemic, teacher leaving rates are set to return to higher levels – a particular issue among working-age teachers.
- Ofsted inspections contribute to teacher stress and may also impact on teacher leaving rates
Addressing the UK’s teacher crisis
Our event is bringing together voices from policy, research and practice to generate new perspectives aimed at resolving the current crisis.
The expert panel Dr Patrick Roach (NASUWT), Melanie Renowden (National Institute of Teaching) and Sinéad McBrearty (Education Support) will tackle thorny subjects including pay, training and well-being.
Rt Hon David Laws (Education Policy Institute) will chair discussions between the researchers, the panel and the audience about the issues, and to identify research ideas to help inform and influence policy development.
You can register for the event here.
