ASCL responds to NFER report on teacher labour market

Commenting on the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) report on the teacher labour market in England, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“Teachers are the vital resource on which our schools rely, and over the past decade the government has squeezed their pay and heaped more pressure on them. Unsurprisingly, there are long-standing recruitment and retention problems, and the improvements in the supply line during the Covid crisis, while very welcome, are likely to be temporary, as this report suggests.

“Government plans to impose a pay freeze for 2021/22 are a retrograde step, and ministers must recognise that further improvements to education, particularly in schools serving the most disadvantaged communities, are utterly reliant on having enough teachers.

“It is essential that pay is improved to make it more competitive and attract the teachers that our schools and children need.”