Commenting on a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies,
which shows that recommended pay levels for college teachers have
fallen by 18% since 2010, Anne Murdoch, Senior Adviser in College
Leadership at the Association of School and College Leaders,
said:
“These stark findings underline the major challenges faced by the
college sector. As outlined by this report, severe real-terms
cuts by the government to post-16 education funding have made it
incredibly difficult for college leaders to allocate more money
for pay awards.
“This has led directly to the recruitment and retention crisis
the college sector now faces. It is simply not sustainable to
have nearly half of all teachers leaving after three years. The
fact that just one quarter remain in the profession after 10
years should also be a source of great concern. Colleges need to
be able to retain and develop staff with a wide range of
specialist and technical skills. It is vital that they are able
to do so to maintain their current provision let alone deliver
the new suite of T-levels that the government bills as a
revolution in technical education. It will be very difficult for
T-levels to be a success with such high rates of teacher churn.
“A significant increase in the level of funding available is
required to ensure colleges can afford the pay awards necessary
to retain teachers. Without this investment the government is
letting down colleges, staff and students.”
