Stimulus required to prevent teacher recruitment crisis

With a sharp decline in teacher recruitment and movement, NQTs struggling to acquire teaching roles are at risk of leaving sector.

New data suggests that the education sector faces an exacerbation of the longstanding teacher shortages challenge in the aftermath of COVID-19 unless there is increased support for schools with their recruitment efforts. With analysis of year-on-year job advertisement data and survey responses from a 10,000 strong teacher community, Musical Chairs: Understanding and Tackling COVID-19 Disruption to the Teacher Recruitment Market, argues that initial disruption caused by the COVID-19 response will have longer-term impacts.

Co-researched by Teacher Tapp and SchoolDash with support from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the report’s findings indicate:

• There has been a reduction of more than 5,000 advertised posts in secondary schools alone, with more teachers staying put. Whilst this could provide workforce stability to disadvantaged schools with a higher turnover, in turn it reduces opportunities for NQTs seeking their first appointment, risking losing them from the sector permanently
• Recruitment and retention challenges beyond September 2020: with the main teacher recruitment season of March to May being so disrupted this year, there is an increased chance of teachers leaving at the interim resignation deadlines of Christmas and Easter, causing further disruption to schooling

“Those struggling to find teaching appointments for the coming school term, will inevitably include shortage-subject teachers we can ill-afford to lose,” said Jenni French, Programme Manager at Gatsby Charitable Foundation. “Schools should be financially supported to recruit at a short-term supernumerary basis for the upcoming academic year. This will increase capacity in the system to mitigate against likely higher than normal teacher absences in September caused by sickness and social distancing measures.”

To learn more about the report’s findings, please see the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers during the Pandemic summary

To look at the data analysis in further detail, please see the report, Musical Chairs: Understanding and Tackling COVID-19 Disruption to the Teacher Recruitment Market