Fourth Special Report

The Education Committee reported to the House on Recruitment and retention of teachers (HC 199) in its Fifth Report of Session 2016–17 on 21 February 2017. The Government’s response was received on 21 April 2017 and is appended to this report.

In the Government response, the Committee’s recommendations appear in bold text and the Government’s responses are in plain text.

Appendix: Government Response

The Education Select Committee published its report on the Retention and Recruitment of Teachers on 21 February 2017. This document sets out the Government’s response to the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations.

Introduction

The Government welcomes the Committee’s inquiry. The evidence is clear that the quality of teachers and teaching is the single most important school-based factor determining the standard of education. The impact of being taught by a good teacher disproportionately affects the most disadvantaged children.1 If we are to achieve our ambition of securing a world-class education for every pupil in England—regardless of their background—then every school needs to be able to recruit and retain the best teachers.

Recruiting, retaining and developing high-quality teachers is by no means a simple task. Government, schools and the teaching profession must work together to deliver this. An example of this collaboration is the recent establishment of the independent Chartered College of Teaching. Initially funded by Government, this new body provides an opportunity for teachers to establish a stronger professional identity for themselves, putting it on a par with other high-status professions.

The challenge of being able to recruit sufficient teachers is directly influenced by the strength of the wider economy. As demand for graduates increases and salaries in the private sector rise, it becomes increasingly difficult for schools to recruit and retain the teachers they need, particularly in subjects where there is competing demand from other sectors. Nevertheless, as of November 2014 (the latest figures available), the average salary of classroom teachers under the age of 25 remains higher than the average salary of graduates employed full-time in the UK.2 As the OECD recognised in its latest Education at a Glance report, teachers in England are competitively paid and tend to progress through the pay ranges twice as quickly as the OECD average.3

The Government is committed to addressing the challenges schools face in recruiting and retaining teachers: the Department for Education (the Department) had committed to spend over £1.3bn on attracting new teachers into the profession up to 2020. This investment is delivering results. Teacher numbers have kept pace with the growth in the pupil population.4 There are now more teachers than ever before in England’s state-funded schools, and each year the number of teachers entering the profession outstrips the numbers leaving it, on a full-time equivalent basis.5 6 The full-time equivalent number of teachers returning to the classroom after a career break has also seen significant growth in recent years, with a 20% rise in returners in the four years between 2011 and 2015.7

The Department has also made good progress recruiting more new teachers to train in priority subjects, even in the context of a strengthening graduate labour market. In the current academic year, physics (traditionally the hardest subject to recruit) has seen a 15% increase in trainees compared to the previous year (2015/16).8 Overall, the Department recruited 89% of the target for secondary trainees in the academic year 2016/17, up from 82% the previous year.9 The market for new primary teachers remains buoyant, and the Department met this recruitment target again in the current academic year.10

Overall teacher retention rates have remained broadly stable for the past 20 years.11 Around 90% of teachers are working in state-funded schools in the year after they qualify.12 Around 7 out of 10 teachers remain in teaching five years after qualifying.13 We are improving our understanding of why teachers leave the profession. Initiatives such as the Department’s work to tackle unnecessary workload, where we are working closely with teachers, school leaders and unions to make tangible improvements to teachers’ working lives, show the Government’s commitment to ensuring that talented professionals want to remain in teaching.

But we recognise that significant challenges remain. Some of these reflect the wider availability of graduates in key subjects. For instance, analysis suggests that 1 in 5 of all new physics and maths graduates in UK universities in a particular year would need to train as teachers if the recruitment targets were to be met in those subjects.14 The Department has been actively addressing these challenges through initiatives encouraging more people to study STEM subjects and then train to teach. The internships programme gives penultimate year undergraduates experience of life in the classroom as a mathematics or physics teacher; scholarships are available for the highest performing graduates; and as part of our £67m STEM teaching package, Teacher Subject Specialism Training will improve the subject knowledge of up to 15,000 non-specialist teachers of mathematics and physics.

An added element of complexity is that teacher recruitment and retention varies significantly, not between different subjects but also between regions and at school level. The Department has recently embarked on work to better understand the characteristics of schools facing the most significant issues when recruiting and retaining high-quality teaching staff.

Challenges such as raising the status of the profession and ensuring that teaching remains an attractive career are determined by a complex combination of factors, not all of which can be influenced by Government, school leaders or teachers themselves.

The Department has made commitments to improving the career progression of teachers, including a commitment to strengthen Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), as well as working with the profession to explore how to better support career progression and effective professional development. It also includes introducing the revised, gold-standard National Professional Qualifications for school leaders at all levels, developed in partnership with the profession. As already demonstrated through large-scale policy initiatives such as the Reducing Teacher Workload action plan, the Department has identified and is addressing the issues that matter most in terms of improving retention.

The Department believes that the range of interventions, support and initiatives that are in place are having a positive impact on ensuring that teaching is, and remains, an attractive career choice for the highest calibre of professionals. The Government is committed to doing whatever it can, working closely with the profession as a whole, to ensure that every pupil in England’s schools is taught by excellent teachers.

Responses to individual conclusions and recommendations

Schools face increasing challenges of teacher shortages, particularly within certain subjects and regions. The Government is aware of these issues, yet lacks a coherent, long-term plan to effectively address them. The Government has missed recruitment targets for the last five years, and in 2016/17 the number of graduates starting initial teacher training fell. (Paragraph 28)

Recruitment to initial teacher training is heavily influenced by the state of the wider economy, and particularly the strength of the graduate labour market. We are pleased that, in the context of a strengthening economy, we have made significant improvements to recruitment to teacher training in specific critical subjects for the current academic year, with secondary recruitment reaching 89 per cent of targets, up from 82 per cent in the previous year.15 Secondary recruitment for the current academic year (2016/17) is at its highest level since 2011/12.16 But there is more to do, which is why we committed to spend over £1.3bn on recruiting and training new teachers up to 2020.

The Department is working to better understand how the issues faced by schools vary from location to location, between different types of school and in different areas of the country. In September last year we published analysis that showed how teacher vacancy rates vary between the regions. This work also showed that turnover rates within the state-funded school sector almost doubled between 2011 and 2015, accounting for a significant proportion of the requirement for schools to recruit new teachers.17 We have commissioned case studies to give us a better understanding of local labour markets and the factors influencing recruitment and retention.

Rising pupil numbers and changes to school accountability, including the Government’s focus on subjects within the EBacc, will exacerbate existing problems, increasing demand for teachers in subjects experiencing shortages. The failure of the National Teaching Service leaves a gap in the Government’s plans to tackle regional shortages. (Paragraph 29)

We continue to take action to improve teacher supply and support schools to recruit in priority subjects, particularly STEM subjects and languages. Our interventions aim to boost the knowledge and skills of current teachers, attract more specialists to train to be teachers and help returning teachers and career changers into the profession.

We offer generous financial incentives, including new scholarships worth £27,500 in geography and Modern Foreign Languages, established scholarships in STEM subjects, and tax-free bursaries worth up to £30,000 for trainees in priority subjects. We continue to fund Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) programmes in all priority EBacc subjects. These give potential trainees the depth of knowledge needed to teach priority subjects. Subject specialism training is available in STEM subjects and languages for non-specialist teachers and for former teachers returning to the classroom. We are also supporting initial teacher training providers to develop “opt in” courses for students on undergraduate degrees to gain Qualified Teacher Status and therefore encourage them into teaching.

Our priority will always be to recruit teachers from within the domestic labour market, but the increased need for more languages teachers, combined with the high demand for linguists across the economy means that it is sensible, at least in the short term, to consider attracting language teachers from other countries. For example, the Department is working with the Spanish Ministry of Education to extend its successful Visiting Teacher Partnership scheme to schools in England. The scheme will be piloted for a year from autumn 2017 and recruitment is already underway. More information about this scheme can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/spains-visiting-teachers-programme.

We were pleased with the interest in the National Teaching Service (NTS) pilot and the calibre of the successful candidates. However, during the pilot some issues were identified and as a result we decided not to roll out the NTS further. We will use the lessons learnt from the pilot to inform future approaches to attracting and retaining teachers and will continue to listen to and work with schools and the profession to identify what works.

The number of different routes into teaching are not always well understood by applicants and can be confusing. The absence of a central application system for school-led ITT leads to inefficient application systems and does little to address regional shortages. (Paragraph 30)

We recognise that there is more to do to help candidates navigate the options available to them. The Department has been working to improve the support available and to simplify the teacher training application process. For example, in recent years, we have simplified the information about ITT routes on our Get Into Teaching website so that candidates’ options are easier to understand.

In addition, we provide a wide range of support during the application process. Face-to-face advice is available at all our Train to Teach recruitment events run across the country. The Teaching Information Line, our free national telephone advice service, delivers comprehensive and impartial support and information to help people decide on their teacher training options and to prepare their application. Those interested in teaching a priority recruitment subject are also given access to a named adviser who will provide support throughout the application process.

We recognise that there are a large number of school-based training providers in the marketplace. We have encouraged School Direct partnerships and SCITTs (School Centred Initial Teacher Training) to work collaboratively at a regional level, through school-led provider networks, to maximise their recruitment and marketing efforts and provide candidates with a more coherent view of the market. This includes networks delivering local recruitment events, developing joint recruitment websites and pooling resources to support recruitment and marketing activity.

The Government and National College for Teaching and Leadership should develop a long-term plan to improve both the supply of new and retention of existing teachers over the next 10 years. This plan should be published before the end of the school summer term 2017 and include:

• Evidence-based initiatives and investment to tackle subject specialist shortages at both primary and secondary level;
• Plans to focus recruitment to regions of the country in most need, particularly since the failure of the National Teaching Service;
• The range and performance of ITT providers in terms of recruitment and retention of teachers;
• A thorough plan for the evaluation of any initiatives and how any findings will feed into future plans for teacher recruitment. (Paragraph 31)

The Department already forecasts teacher recruitment needs in England 10 years ahead, using the Teacher Supply Model (TSM). Responding to the TSM’s projections, we have put in place a range of policies and interventions intended to optimise teacher recruitment against expected demand. However, predicting teacher supply needs is a complex undertaking, and the data changes from year to year. Consequently, we reassess projected demand on an annual basis. The Department also reviews its financial incentives annually to ensure that they remain attractive, and respond to the changing need for teachers in particular subjects.

The Department recognises there is more to do to understand the teacher recruitment and retention challenges faced by particular schools or areas. Work is already underway to build our evidence base and a better understanding of data at a local level. The Department knows that individual schools face a combination of different challenges from schools in their region. We are working to build a better picture from the data of these pressures. This includes a deep-dive analysis so that we can understand what is happening in schools in particular areas.

The Department committed to invest a portion of the £70 million for the northern powerhouse schools strategy in piloting new approaches to attracting and retaining teachers in the North of England.

The Department is looking at the availability of training places in different parts of the country. For the 2017/18 academic year, we introduced a new assessment of ITT providers against four key areas: the quality of trainees recruited; the quality of their course provision; the quality of outcomes for trainees (in terms of successful completion and employment); and the provider’s effectiveness in recruitment. On the basis of that assessment, the top-performing providers (both schools and universities) have been awarded three-year allocations of training places, allowing them to plan for the longer term.

We intend to take further steps to support areas with insufficient supply of high-quality training. This includes targeting the accreditation of new providers in areas with the greatest need, as well as inviting expressions of interest from ITT providers which have devised innovative delivery approaches, for which the Department could offer support. We expect to support a number of pilot projects from the 2018/19 academic year.

We have arrangements in place for robust evaluation of initiatives designed to improve teacher recruitment. For example, the evaluation of the eight strands of the £67m STEM teacher package was announced in 2015. We routinely review any new initiative to learn from and apply key findings.

The Department should assess the full consequences of the range of possible numbers of teachers needed in the system as predicted by the Teacher Supply Model and include pre-existing shortages in this. This should be in place in time for the next targets to be set. (Paragraph 42)

The Teacher Supply Model (TSM) does not predict a range of possible numbers of teachers needed in the system. As stated in the published 2016/17 TSM, “the higher and lower values are only used as an indication of how much lower/higher the need for NQTs/trainees might be given extremes of what might happen (e.g. all the different scenarios conspire in the same direction to make the teacher need higher/lower)”.18 The model employs scenario-testing capability for information purposes; the high and low pre-set values are the most extreme values that can be derived by using the scenario testing within the model (e.g. how quickly pupil:teacher ratios might change, how future teacher wastage rates might change, etc.).

Identifying “pre-existing shortages” of teachers and adding them on to estimations of teacher requirements is not straightforward. The teacher system will always have some vacancies given that teachers move around within the system. Recent vacancy increases are in part driven by an increase in the number of teachers moving between schools. These teachers are not leaving the system, they are simply moving within it. 10,400 teachers moved to a primary school from another state funded school in 2011 and this has increased over the last 5 years to 18,200 in 2015.19 The equivalent figures for secondary schools are 8,300 in 2011 and 16,500 in 2015.20 Therefore, the increase in temporarily-filled posts and vacancies over this period is largely due to increased movement and churn within the system. As a consequence, simply adding the number of current vacancies onto future teacher training requirements would not produce an accurate picture of real teacher needs.

Similarly, using data on the subject specialism of teachers to identify “pre-existing shortages” is problematic. For example, a teacher with French nationality who teaches French in England might not hold a post A-level qualification in French, and would therefore not be regarded (in the data held by the Department) as being a specialist French teacher. Similarly, an economics graduate who has taught mathematics for 15 years may not be regarded as a “maths specialist” despite having considerable experience and strong mathematical knowledge. Schools also meet recruitment challenges in different ways, such as taking on more returners or reviewing their curriculum and timetabling. We cannot simply assume that there is a vacancy to fill.

To mitigate against pre-existing shortages, the Department uses a yearly data update to the TSM so that the model can implement a number of appropriate strategies to reflect how the system is evolving over time and adapting to the latest supply situation. For example, adjustments can be made to the modelling assumptions to reflect falls in the percentage of teachers that are subject specialists or unqualified teacher rates.

It is important to note that the Department’s analysts do not make decisions on modelling assumptions for the TSM in isolation. Internal and external experts are consulted as part of the development of the model.

The Government should follow through on its plan to develop and launch a national vacancy website which will be free to use for schools, and use the data to inform teacher recruitment targets. (Paragraph 42)

The Department remains committed to helping schools advertise jobs more easily, and has been exploring the most effective ways to do this.

We have strengthened our understanding about the pressures schools face when advertising jobs, and the challenges teachers have finding and applying for jobs. We have also spoken to suppliers in the market about their products and how things can be improved for schools. Many schools stay with familiar approaches, despite the existence of low-cost advertising products. The quality of job adverts and the recruitment process also varies and can put off potential applicants. We intend to produce objective information for schools on where they can advertise jobs at low cost, along with tips, case studies and good practice guidance to help with their recruitment.

Recruitment processes can be improved by having common information standards for vacancy adverts and application forms. The Department intends to drive the development of these standards, working with the recruitment industry to ensure that vacancy information is shared more effectively between suppliers. Schools, rather than having to post a vacancy in several places separately, could provide it once and have it posted to many others. If there is sufficient benefit in Government building a vacancy website in addition to the market response to these reforms, we will do so. Increasing the availability and quality of data on teacher recruitment will be an objective in all of these actions.

The Department should publish teacher shortages on a regional basis to better inform teacher recruitment. (Paragraph 42)

In September 2016, the Department published the document Schools Workforce in England 2010 to 2015: Trends and geographical comparisons.21 This new analysis analysed local trends and comparisons of data from the School Workforce Census. It included a new way of recording vacancies by including the proportion of schools within a region that have at least one advertised vacancy or temporarily-filled post on the census day in November. This analysis showed some regional variation in vacancies, wastage and mobility.

Further research and analysis is ongoing to provide exploratory analysis of local teacher supply using a new “supply index”. By combining a range of indicators into an index that relates to teacher supply and mobility, we have been able to look more broadly at the challenges facing schools in recruiting and retaining teachers. The analysis shows that teacher supply issues can be measured in a more detailed way than just the vacancy rate and that schools can be affected by a range of supply issues. The analysis also shows that supply issues do not appear to follow any obvious geographic pattern.

Government intervention currently focuses almost entirely on improving recruitment of teachers. The Government struggles to recruit enough teachers to ITT each year, making the retention of teachers ever more important. Introducing initiatives to help improve teachers’ job satisfaction may well be a much more cost effective way of improving teacher supply in the long term. (Paragraph 54)

The Government does not collect enough data on retention rates by subject, region, or route into teaching. Research suggests more teachers are leaving the profession and that there may be specific issues for certain subjects, particularly science teachers. (Paragraph 55)

The Government should focus more resource on evidence-based policies to improve the retention of high-quality teachers. The Government should collect more granular data on teacher retention rates. This should include the reasons driving teachers to leave including secondary school subject, region and route into teaching to inform where intervention and investment should be directed. (Paragraph 56)

The Department believes it is important to put appropriate focus and resource into ensuring that sufficient new teachers join the profession each year, and that teaching remains an attractive career for the brightest and best new graduates. We do not agree that Government intervention focuses exclusively on the recruitment of teachers.

The Department does also see retention of good teachers as essential to teacher supply, particularly in subjects that have perennially struggled to reach their recruitment targets. The Department monitors the “wastage” rates of teachers by subject, region, age, gender and length of service annually through the School Workforce Census and, in July 2016, a report into retention rates by route into teaching was published by NCTL (National College for Teaching and Leadership).22

We accept that there may be specific issues affecting teachers in certain subjects, particularly science teachers, and that we need more data and insight. For example, we do not have good information on where teachers go after teaching and what prompted them to leave the profession. The last survey on the destinations of teachers leaving the profession was carried out almost 15 years ago, and the majority of recent research has taken place with teachers who are thinking about leaving.23 We know that only a small number of those considering leaving teaching actually do so, but there is very little current evidence about why ex-teachers actually leave the profession, or on what would encourage teachers to remain. The Department has started collecting more information on why teachers left the profession and further analysis of the data we have on who leaves teaching is being undertaken.

The Department is already taking action to improve retention. Increasing numbers of teachers are seeking flexible working opportunities, and would be more likely to return to teaching (for example after maternity leave) if they were able to work flexibly. Workload is also often cited as a barrier to retention for teachers. Policies to improve opportunities for flexible working in teaching and reduce unnecessary workload are likely to have a positive impact on retention. We have published Flexible Working in Schools guidance to provide teachers with information about flexible working, and to help schools overcome misconceptions and perceived barriers to offering more flexible working opportunities which work for everyone.24

The Department intends to develop further support to enable schools and employers to offer flexible working opportunities. We will also investigate ways to remove the barriers which might deter schools from offering more flexible working. As the Secretary of State announced on 10 March, we intend to hold a symposium later this year to explore further flexible working in the teaching profession.25

As described in our response to recommendations 10, 11 and 12 below, we have also recently published a package of resources, including an action plan, designed to help schools to reduce unnecessary teacher workload.26

School leaders should carry out systematic exit interviews and use this information to better understand staff turnover, and whether there are any interventions that may help retain high-quality staff. (Paragraph 57)

The Department would welcome the contribution that this would make to improving the understanding of reasons why teachers leave the profession, and the types of incentive that could help to retain high-quality teachers.

The Government should recognise the importance of stability following major changes to accountability, assessment or the curriculum to allow recent reforms to be embedded. The current protocol of a year’s notice should be adhered to at the very minimum, but more effort should be made to give longer lead in time for future policy changes. (Paragraph 69)

Teachers told us, in their responses to the Workload Challenge, that the Department needs to make sure schools have enough time to prepare for change. In response to this, we published the DfE Protocol in March 2015 to give schools a year’s lead-in time for any significant changes to the curriculum, qualifications or accountability. Associated materials have also been provided as soon as they are ready, and have passed the rigorous quality assurance procedures in place.

We have conducted a review of the DfE Protocol, a recommendation in the Planning and Teaching Resources Review Group report, and are confident it continues to cover the key areas sufficiently. We have reissued the Protocol to show our commitment to making sure schools have enough time to prepare for change. We want to ensure the Protocol operates in the best interests of teachers and school leaders—and ultimately for pupils. We will continue to ensure the Protocol is applied to policy development so that the profession has enough lead-in time for significant changes which will impact on workload.

We have also made clear that there will be greater stability in primary assessment, with no new national tests or assessments to be introduced before the 2018/19 academic year. We have launched a consultation on proposals to create a long-term, stable and proportionate system for assessing children at primary school. The plans are aimed at helping give children the skills and knowledge they need to succeed while reducing the burden on teachers and schools.

The Government must do more to encourage schools to implement the recommendations of the workload challenge. Ofsted must do more to dispel any misunderstandings of its requirements and promote good practice by monitoring workload in its school inspections. Ofsted should introduce and publish details of how consistency between inspectors is evaluated. (Paragraph 70)

On 24 February 2017, we published the findings of the Department’s Teacher Workload Survey 2016—a commitment from the 2014 Workload Challenge. The results tell us we are right to focus on removing unnecessary workload related to marking, lesson planning and administration of data.

We also published a clear action plan providing an update on how we are meeting the recommendations from the three review groups and setting out the further steps we will take to help tackle the issues identified in the survey. It explains how we have been disseminating the messages from the review groups widely, including:

• embedding the principles within departmental guidance and advice;
• publishing a poster and pamphlet, endorsed by all teaching unions and Ofsted, to help embed the messages of the three independent workload review group reports;
• targeting communications to system leaders;
• sharing examples of effective practice via our Teaching Blog;
• awarding small grants to 11 groups of schools to carry out their own workload reviews; and
• stressing the importance of workload considerations in our revised content for National Professional Qualifications for school leaders.

We intend to continue our sustained campaign of action to embed the principles from the reports. We have also begun development, with teachers and their representatives, of an offer of targeted support to help manage workload for teachers who need it most.

All school leaders should promote a culture of wellbeing in their schools, which will include taking greater account of teacher workload. This could include implementing the recommendations of the workload challenge or ‘capping’ the number of hours teachers work outside of teaching time. (Paragraph 71)

Headteachers have a duty to lead and manage their staff with a proper regard for their well-being. This includes the expectation of a sensible balance between work and other commitments outside the school.

The Department published in March 2016 reports from three independent review groups on marking, planning and resources, and data management. They set out clear principles about what should happen in schools, and make recommendations for every level in the school system, including for school leaders.27 These reports were published in response to the findings of the workload challenge. Schools are already embedding the principles of the reports to review and reduce workload and examples are included in the Department’s teaching blog.28 The reports make clear that it is for everybody involved in education to act on the principles and recommendations. This includes challenging unproductive practice, and focusing on those things that make a difference to the education of pupils in this country.

The Department’s workload action plan, published on 24 February, explains how we have been disseminating and embedding the principles and recommendations from the reports.29 This includes stressing the importance of workload considerations in our reformed National Professional Qualifications for school leaders, to be delivered from the 2017/2018 academic year.

CPD improves teaching practice, professionalism, and can help improve teacher retention. Until now, England has had a weaker commitment to CPD for teachers than many high-performing countries. (Paragraph 92)

All teachers should have the entitlement and opportunity to undertake high-quality, continuing professional development. This should include greater emphasis on:

• Subject-specific knowledge and the ability to deliver it effectively through up-to-date pedagogical research;
• Longer term and cumulative development, which will include continuing evaluation and opportunities for review;
• Training being relevant to the different stages of a teaching career, recognising that the needs of a recently qualified teacher may differ from someone in the middle of their career; (Paragraph 93)

We fully support the College of Teaching, but recognise that there are still challenges in place and it may be some time before extensive benefits are seen. We urge teachers, school leaders and the wider sector to support it through its development phase. (Paragraph 94)

Responsibility for improving CPD is shared between the Government, Ofsted, schools and teachers:

• Teachers should use the opportunity of the new College of Teaching to be fully involved in the development of high-quality CPD opportunities;
• Schools should support all of their teachers to access CPD by releasing them from lessons and actively promoting a culture of learning within their teaching staff as well as their pupils;
• Ofsted should prioritise evidence of school support for the professional development of their teaching
• Government should, having taken account of the work of teachers, schools and Ofsted, recognise its own role in promoting the professional development of teachers. This may include targeted funding and a central statement of annual entitlement. (Paragraph 95)

We welcome the Committee’s endorsement of the importance of professional development for teachers. The Government is firmly committed to helping all teachers improve their practice throughout their careers. We are promoting a culture of high-quality professional development in schools and helping teachers and leaders to identify and participate in the most effective activities.

Our ambition is that all teachers in all schools are able to engage in high-quality professional development activities that respond to their individual needs. We want teachers and school leaders to value the building blocks of effective development so there is an emphasis on subject knowledge as the Committee suggests, as well as a wide range of skills depending on the specific needs of the individual.

As part of our commitment to support the profession, the Department brought together an expert group of academics, headteachers and teachers to produce a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development.30 Published in July 2016, the Standard is based on the best international evidence and includes the importance of independent challenge and self-reflection. It supports teachers and school leaders to understand what makes professional development effective and how to make the best choices to prioritise and enable high-quality activities. The Standard also encourages providers of professional development to raise the quality of their programmes and ensure that their offer truly meets the needs of schools.

The Department has also announced a new Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund. The Fund commits around £75 million over three years, to enable schools and providers in the most challenging areas to provide bespoke professional development opportunities. The Fund will enable us to share learning across the sector about what works.

We agree that the development needs of teachers vary throughout their career and depending on their ambitions. We have already strengthened how teachers are trained through the new ITT framework, but we know that training is just the first step. The Department intends to work with the profession to improve career progression. We want to support the creation of clear pathways for all teachers—whether that means staying in the classroom, taking on a pastoral role, working elsewhere in the education system or progressing to leadership. CPD is a key part of this.

We welcome the Committee’s support for the Chartered College of Teaching. The Government supports the establishment of the Chartered College because we believe it is important for the profession. As the Committee has recognised, the profession has a role to play in ensuring the success of the Chartered College. engaging with it, and investing in it, both professionally and through membership fees.

Ofsted has played an active part in the Department’s work to tackle teacher workload since the Workload Challenge in 2014, including participation on the independent workload review groups on planning, marking and data. Ofsted has committed to supporting efforts to minimise burdens, including through regular myth busting about its work to clarify what is and isn’t expected during inspections. Whilst there are no plans for inspection to include a monitoring role, the Department will continue to work with Ofsted and the sector to consider what role it can play in tackling workload issues in schools.