Teacher Recruitment Crisis - Unravelling the Surge in Teacher Vacancies

As we sit mid-way through the 23/24 academic year, I look at the storm unravelling across the country whilst our education sector faces unprecedented challenges in teacher recruitment and retention.  This blog delves into the current state of teacher shortages, explores the reasons behind the crisis, and offers advice on how to best ensure your academy/school starts the forthcoming academic year with a full staff co-hort.

Record-High Teacher Vacancies:

Teacher vacancies are currently at a record high.  Around 3,300 vacancies in English schools are currently being filled by temporary staff as of November 2023.  (A statistic that is not likely to change)

Concerns About Resourcing:

Schools grapple with resourcing concerns as unfilled vacancies persist. The demand for supply teachers remains strong, underscoring the need to urgently address the root causes of this shortage.  The DfE failing to meet teaching training targets means in the short-term some out of the box thinking may be required to ensure schools remain operational. 

A poll conducted in 2023 shows school leaders diminishing confidence in retaining or recruiting enough qualified teachers needed to maintain a full staffing cohort for their school.

 

Recruitment and Retention Challenges:

The Department for Education (DfE) struggles to meet Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment targets. Postgraduate teacher recruitment as measured by the ITT census was 38% below target in academic year 2023/24.  Secondary schools bore the brunt of this where a 50% shortage on target recruitment was noted. Primary schools were 4% below target which means a lesser burden however challenges persist in sustaining a qualified teaching workforce long-term due to the high attrition rates in the profession.

High Teacher Churn Rates:

Having already identified the struggle to meet initial training targets, it becomes more concerning that when teachers are in the profession the churn rate continues to worsen.  Approximately 25% of Early Career Teachers (ECTs) leave after three years, increasing to 35% after six years.

Market surveys suggest that retention rates will worsen, with the number of teachers expecting to still be in the profession in 3 years' time dropping from 77% (2018) to 59% (2023).  In the academic year of 22 a five year high of 44,000 teachers left the profession with less than 10% of this being attributed to natural churn (retirement)

Impact on Education:

The teacher shortage profoundly impacts education quality and the overall student experience. Schools struggle to maintain a stable teaching staff, potentially hindering student development.  Lower staffing numbers also increases the pressure on existing staff exacerbating those leaving the profession due to workload.

What can you do?

It may be some time before the shortage of teachers can be re-addressed.  If you are a secondary school, it is worth noting the subjects that have seen chronic under-performance in attaining the desired numbers of recruits coming through.  Against 23/24 academic year Subjects worth noting are.

Business studies (84% below target)

Physics (83% below target)

Design and technology (73% below target)

Music (73% below target) 

Modern foreign languages (66% below target)

Understanding the market is key and to ensure a vacancy is not left filled by a long-term supply teacher the hiring team or HR dept. in a School or Trust of academies need to be able to note quickly if an advert is not getting any applicants.  This is a red flag which should mean you are seeking to work with external agencies to help source a candidate.

If this is the route you need to go down, acting fast will certainly put you ahead of the pack in getting your vacancy filled.

Those who leave it too long to fill vacancies using historical methods which have previously worked fine will be left open to having an un-filled staff cohort.

If you have an unfilled vacancy in your school or need help to fill one currently being covered, please do get in contact with the Go2 Teachers team today!

Sources

Credits House of commons Library – Techer recruitment and retention in England commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Grant Thornton – Supply agency paper -  grantthornton.co.uk