NFER study warns perceived increases in pupil behaviour challenges is a key factor for teachers leaving profession

New analysis shows that growing time spent dealing with pupil behaviour and providing pastoral support plays a significant role in teachers choosing to leave the profession. 

Drawing on newly available data from the Department for Education's (DfE) Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders (WLTL) survey*, the research also shows teachers who report good pupil behaviour in their school and are well supported to deal with persistently disruptive behaviour, are less likely to leave. Data from WLTL shows teachers' and leaders' perceptions of pupil behaviour in their school has worsened considerably since 2021/22. It also highlights a substantial rise in the number of teachers reporting that they spend ‘too much time' dealing with behaviour incidents - from 50 per cent in 2022 to 59 per cent in 2025.

The report by NFER, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, recommends the Government should further develop its approach for supporting schools to improve pupil behaviour and meet pupils' additional pastoral and learning needs. This should be reinforced by improved external school support services and backed with additional funding. A recent evaluation of the DfE's Behaviour Hubs programme found that staff in participating schools reported improvements in pupil behaviour compared to the period before its implementation, suggesting it could be beneficial at the system level if implemented at larger scale.

Findings from the analysis, which explores the factors linked to teachers' decisions to leave the profession, also show that teachers feel they spend too much time on lesson planning.

NFER highlights opportunities that school and trust leaders should consider to improve this challenge. For example, although recent research has presented a mixed picture, some studies suggest that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can help improve their teachers' planning workload. Also, access to existing schemes of work and associated lesson plans and opportunities for collaborative planning have been seen as enablers for reducing workload.

School leadership support is also an important factor for retention. The report highlights that feeling valued, involved in school decision-making and supported with flexible working opportunities is associated with improved teacher retention.

The report recommends that Government should put more focus on building positive, supportive leadership skills in all National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) programmes for school leaders. This could boost the relationship between teachers and leaders in the school-decision making process.  

It also urges school leaders to explore how teachers can be meaningfully involved and engaged in the way the school defines its organisational development priorities and makes decisions more widely.  

NFER Education Workforce Lead, Jack Worth, said:

“Teacher retention remains a crucial issue for education policy. Even small improvements can have a major impact on teacher supply by reducing vacancies and the pressure on initial teacher training recruitment. Improving teacher supply, particularly in secondary schools where recruitment and retention challenges are most prevalent, can ensure pupils receive the high-quality education they deserve.

“Our research shows that while increasing teacher pay is one way to improve retention, there is significant scope for cost-effective policies and practice improvements that target non-financial factors affecting retention. This could include improving school leadership quality, utilising time-saving tools in planning tasks to relieve workload pressures and making dealing with disruptive pupil behaviour a top school priority. These approaches could be particularly important given the budget pressures facing schools and Government.” 

Dr Emily Tanner, Programme Head at the Nuffield Foundation said:

"This report identifies tangible ways to improve teacher retention based on data-driven insights. This is part of a wider programme of work aimed at understanding and addressing teacher recruitment and retention challenges in England." 

Further key findings from the report include: 

• Higher pay satisfaction is a significant factor associated with improved retention. 

• The impact of CPD on teachers' practice is a significant factor affecting retention. 

• Teachers stated intentions to leave are not a reliable predictor of actual behaviour. 86.2 per cent of teachers who said they were considering leaving did not do so the following year, while four per cent of those not considering leaving did subsequently leave. 
  

Further recommendations for policymakers, schools and trusts to consider: 

• Government should aim to sustain levels of pay satisfaction by at least maintaining the competitiveness of teachers' pay each year (i.e. matching the growth in average earnings outside teaching) and funding schools to deliver it. 

• Government should produce guidance around the Standards for Teachers' Professional Development to emphasise how teachers can be given greater involvement in setting their CPD goals and activities.  

ENDS℗ NOTES TO EDITORS

*The analysis is based on cross-sectional correlations, so should be interpreted cautiously. The ‘effects' identified could have causal implications, but only under strong assumptions. A key assumption is that there are no confounding factors that could also be influencing the relationship between the explanatory factor and retention but are not measured and accounted for in the modelling.