New research by the National
Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reveals that the
Department for Education’s (DfE) proposals on teacher pay,
combined with other financial incentives such as the ‘levelling
up premium’, are unlikely to result in an adequate supply of
teachers in England in 2022-2025, particularly in Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).
The study, commissioned by the Gatsby Foundation, suggests the
Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment target for maths may
be met over the next four years – but is unlikely to be met in
physics, chemistry, computing and across all three science
subjects combined.
According to the research the attractiveness of teacher pay
matters for ITT recruitment. The study estimates that a one per
cent increase in the teaching starting salary – over and above
the change in the outside-teaching graduate starting salary – is
associated with a two per cent increase in applicants to ITT.
This suggests an increase in pay could make a real impact in
recruiting teachers, as well as retaining them.
The study also suggests the Government should introduce
additional financial incentives to improve teacher supply,
including increasing bursaries and applying the ‘levelling up
premium’ early-career retention payment to all teachers of
shortage subjects in England. It recommends that for some STEM
subjects, combinations of additional financial measures could
support the improvement of teacher supply.
The research highlights that physics and computing are highly
unlikely to meet their recruitment targets under any reasonable
package of financial measures. To tackle this the education
system could consider additional measures, including, for
example: subject specialism training in physics for trainees and
teachers in the classroom; ensuring physics teachers are deployed
to teach physics rather than other subjects, and addressing the
relatively low numbers of students studying physics at A- Level
and as an undergraduate degree.
Co-author of the report and NFER School Workforce Lead,
Jack Worth, said:
“With average pay in the UK set to rise by 5.3 per cent this
year, increasing teachers’ pay by an average of 3.9 per cent is
only likely to exacerbate the teacher supply challenges that were
prevalent before the pandemic and have rapidly re-emerged. DfE’s
proposal to target higher pay increases at early-career teachers
is sensible, but our analysis shows the overall financial package
is still very likely to leave the sector short of the new
teachers it needs.
“Particularly for shortage subjects such as physics, chemistry
and computing, more action to improve teacher supply is needed,
whether that is financial or non-financial. Failing to take
action will lead to increasing under-supply of teachers, which is
likely to have a negative impact on the quality of STEM education
in England.”
Jenni French, Head of Teacher Programmes at the Gatsby
Foundation, said:
“This important work is yet more evidence of the impact that
financial incentives can have on teacher supply. This and other
Gatsby supported research has demonstrated various ways in which
government could use salary, bursary, and retention payments to
increase the number of pupils who are taught by specialist
teachers. I hope that the thoughtful recommendations set out in
today’s report are given serious consideration.”
Key findings from the report include:
- The strength of the wider labour market matters for teacher
recruitment, with the research showing that a decrease of one
percentage point in the UK unemployment rate (i.e. a stronger
labour market) is estimated to be associated with a six per cent
decrease in applicants to ITT.
- There is strong and consistent evidence that training
bursaries are associated with increases in ITT recruitment,
withprevious studies consistently estimating that a 2.9 per cent
increase in ITT applications is associated with each additional
£1,000 of bursary.
Recommendations from the report include:
- The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) should consider
recommending that teacher pay should increase by more than 3.9
per cent overall in 2022/23, to maintain teacher pay
competitiveness and support teacher supply.
- The DfE should consider increasing bursaries in shortage
subjects up to a maximum of £30,000 and expanding the ‘levelling
up premium’ to apply to teachers working in schools across
England, to further improve recruitment and early-career teacher
retention.
- As part of its future evidence to STRB, the DfE should
publish full impact assessments of its pay and financial
incentive proposals on overall teacher supply. Where an impact
assessment suggests supply is unlikely to be met, the DfE should
set out the financial and non-financial actions being taken to
improve teacher supply, particularly in subjects not expected to
reach their respective targets.
