A new blog,
authored by NFER's School Workforce
Lead, Jack Worth, discusses the findings of fresh research,
funded by the Nuffield Foundation, exploring the effectiveness of
five different government schemes designed to improve teacher
retention through financial incentives for early career teachers.
The five schemes
are:
-
Maths and Physics Retention Payment
(MPRP)
-
Teacher Student Loan Reimbursement
(TSLR)
-
Maths Phased Bursary
(MPB)
-
Early Career Payment
(ECP)
-
Levelling Up Premium
(LUP)
These schemes provided targeted
payments to teachers in the early years of their careers
(typically within the first five years), often focused on school
types or specific regions. Our evaluation offers new insight into
how these policies are working and whether they represent good
value for money.
Key findings from the research
show:
-
Retention payments may help
– but the evidence is mixed: While previous studies found stronger positive
impacts, this new analysis shows
weaker
and often not
statistically
significant improvements
in teacher retention. This means there is
some indication
of effectiveness, but the evidence
is less certain than previously
thought.
-
-
Inconclusive evidence of
whether the Levelling Up Premium was effective:
The LUP scheme, launched in 2022
with payments of up to £3,000 a year, is associated with a
modest reduction in leaving rates (around one percentage point), but the effect is
not statistically significant
– suggesting more data
would be needed before firm conclusions could be
drawn.
-
-
Retention payments are less
cost-effective than bursaries – but can still play a
role: The analysis
shows that bursaries deliver greater impact per pound compared
to retention payments. However, once bursaries have reached
their practical maximum (e.g. the level of the teacher starting
salary), retention payments may be a useful
addition
lever.
-
-
No clear evidence that
specific groups benefit more:
There was
no strong
evidence that retention payments
work better for certain types of teachers or schools. This
implies that scheme design should focus on subject shortages
and alignment with other policy objectives.
Commenting on the research
findings, Jack Worth, School Workforce Lead at NFER,
said:
“Our analysis
suggests retention payments may play a useful role in keeping
early career teachers in the classroom, especially, in shortage
subjects – but the evidence is far from conclusive. To get the
best value, they need to be carefully targeted and used alongside
high bursaries and wider recruitment and retention
strategies.”
