Commenting on the Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2023 announcement,
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“Today we heard the Chancellor announce £11 billion for defence
and not a penny to address the teacher recruitment and retention
crisis affecting our schools and colleges, or resolve the
associated industrial action that is taking place as the
Chancellor was speaking. The government appears to be inhabiting
a parallel universe in which it seems utterly complacent about
the pressure on schools, colleges and many other public services.
“Most schools and colleges are experiencing severe teacher
shortages as a result of real-terms pay cuts since 2010 and
increasing workload pressures.
“Postgraduate teacher recruitment is a disaster with the
Department for Education missing its target for secondary
teachers by 41% in 2022/23. The overall target for postgraduate
teacher recruitment has been achieved only once since 2015/16 and
this was during the abnormal circumstance of the Covid pandemic
in 2020/21. Nearly one-third of teachers leave teaching within
five years of qualifying and 40% within 10 years.
“Teachers are the lifeblood of the education system. What will it
take for the government to take action to improve recruitment and
retention?
“We welcome the additional investment in childcare announced in
today’s Budget and will now look closely at the detail. We would
urge the Department for Education to also look into how it
supports high-quality educational provision as part of this
commitment as this is key to closing attainment gaps between rich
and poor.”
