Today, Thursday 9th June 2022, the Department for Education has released the latest data on the school workforce, collected in November 2021.
Commenting on the proposals, James Zuccollo, Director for School Workforce at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:
“It is reassuring to see that teacher retention rates had not, on average, worsened since the previous year. However, this data was collected in November 2021, so most of the decisions to stay or go were made in early 2021, when schools had very recently been closed and Ofsted inspections were still suspended. Consequently, this data may not reflect a post-pandemic world.
Similarly, the data shows that the teaching workforce has grown by another 4,400 FTE after increasing by nearly 7,300 FTE in the previous year, but it is too early to say if this is a result of policy changes. It may still be the effect of the pandemic and the Department for Education’s data shows that recruitment to teacher training is weak this year as the economy picks up.
The government’s plan to reintroduce retention payments combined with the planned increase in starting salaries remain welcome policy decisions.”
