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Teacher recruitment in England drops sharply: 2025 report on teacher supply
The 2025 annual report by Teacher Tapp and SchoolDash sheds light on the challenges facing teacher recruitment and retention across England.
Drawing from over 10,000 survey responses from teachers and extensive job ad tracking, the latest report from Teacher Tapp and SchoolDash suggests a cooling labour market in education, particularly for secondary teaching roles.
The sixth annual survey designed to build a comprehensive, longitudinal picture of trends in teacher retention and recruitment, generating insights which can be used to support government policy on developing the teaching workforce in England.
Recruitment activity for secondary school teachers has seen the most significant fall in recruitment, with job advertisements down by 31% compared to last year and 22% lower than in 2018/19, the last time Easter fell this late in the calendar. While recruitment was steady at the start of the academic year, it slowed in Spring, and responses suggest that it is not expected to pick up over the summer.
Analysing the data, Teacher Tapp attributed the downturn in recruitment to both supply and demand-side factors. On the supply side, fewer teachers are switching jobs following a post-COVID turnover surge. On the demand side, many schools—especially in London—are preparing for shrinking student numbers and are tightening budgets accordingly. 44% of secondary headteachers anticipate cutting teaching roles in September, with just 5% expecting to increase the number of teaching roles.
Demographic shifts are also hitting primary schools, particularly in London and the North East. With falling pupil numbers, schools are consolidating classes and increasing teaching loads for senior staff. Just 5% of primary heads plan to increase staff next year, while 36% foresee reductions.
Teacher retention remains fragile
Only 60% of teachers now expect to remain in the profession for the next three years—down from 75% before the pandemic. Factors like low flexibility, alternative careers, workload, and student behaviour continue to drive attrition, a factor which is more acutely felt in schools serving disadvantaged communities.
Beyond traditional disadvantage metrics.
Building on previous work by SchoolDash, which proposed a new system for measuring disadvantage in schools, the report highlights that factors beyond free school meal eligibility—such as subject-specific shortages and regional socio-economic differences—play a key role in shaping staffing patterns and teacher sentiment.
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