Labour’s plan for world-class teachers to reduce agency payments as schools pay recruiters £8 billion to find new teachers since 2010
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Labour has pledged to save taxpayers billions of pounds paid by
schools each year to teacher recruitment agencies through its new
plan to embed “world-class teaching for every child” and drive
“high and rising standards” in schools. Labour’s Shadow Education
Secretary Bridget Phillipson pledged to reduce payments to fill
growing teaching agencies in response to new analysis by the party,
which found that state schools in England have paid recruitment
agencies more...Request free trial
Labour has pledged to save taxpayers billions of pounds paid by schools each year to teacher recruitment agencies through its new plan to embed “world-class teaching for every child” and drive “high and rising standards” in schools. Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson pledged to reduce payments to fill growing teaching agencies in response to new analysis by the party, which found that state schools in England have paid recruitment agencies more than £8 billion in fees since 2010 to fill teaching growing vacancies. Written answers to Parliamentary Questions tabled by Labour’s Phillipson revealed that the total included £1.98 billion spent on fees by Local Authority maintained schools between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2022, and £4.5 billion between 2010 and 2017. Labour’s research found that academies and academy trusts spent £1.75 billion on fees between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2021 (the latest available data). The news comes as the party unveils plans as part of its mission to break down barriers to opportunity to get a grip on the recruitment and retention crisis in England’s classrooms, which is seeing teachers in key subjects leave the profession in droves and too few new recruits replace them. The party intends to “re-establish teaching as a profession that is respected and valued as a skilled job which delivers for our country” by bringing in Qualified Teacher Status for new recruits alongside of reform of the way teachers and school access incentive payments to keep teachers in post. Labour accused the Conservatives of creating the “perfect storm” in the teaching profession, with recruitment to teacher training down by a third so far this year and more than one in three teachers who qualified in the last 11 years have since left the profession. According to official data from the Department for Education, there were 43,997 leavers in the teaching profession in 2021/22 (latest data), compared with only 36,159 starters on Initial Teacher Training, leaving a shortfall of 7,838. School leaders have reported that insufficient quantity and quality of available applicants for teacher vacancies was a key recruitment challenge, and pose a threat to children’s education.
Bridget Phillipson
MP, Labour’s Shadow Education
Secretary, said: “Only Labour has the vision to re-establish teaching as a profession that is respected and valued as a skilled job which delivers for our country. “A good retention plan is the best recruitment plan: that is why Labour’s measures to keep teachers in our classrooms will deliver world-class teachers in every classroom and reduce the costly payments to recruitment agencies clobbering taxpayers.” Ends Notes: Between 2017 and 2021 (the latest available data), a total of £3.73 billion was spent on teaching staff supplied by recruitment agencies. This includes £1.98 billion spent by Local Authority maintained schools between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2022, and £1.75 billion by academies and academy trusts between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2021, according to a written Parliamentary Question. Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-26/133599/ Information on expenditure on agency supply teaching staff only is shown in the table below. Information for academies for the academic year 2021/22 is not yet available. The figures below are presented in cash terms and not adjusted for inflation. Expenditure (£ million) on agency teaching staff recruitment in state-funded schools in England, by year:1
Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-15/166193/ Between 2010 and 2016, £4.5 billion was spent on teaching staff recruited by recruitment agencies.
Source: Written questions submitted by Bridget Phillipson - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament Agency spend by academies alone is the same amount as estimated VAT takings from private schools. A breakdown of the numbers of maintained schools of different types is set out below: o 12,224 LA maintained schools o 9,836 academies All qualified teachers in England will have a starting salary of at least £28000 according to the Government’s Get into Teaching website. Source: Teaching salaries and benefits | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK (education.gov.uk) The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) confirms that more than 70% of secondary school headteachers have increased their spending on agency supply teachers in the three years to 2018. One of the key factors cited in the ASCL survey for the increased expenditure was increased supply agency fees (54% of respondents) Source: https://edexec.co.uk/ascl-survey-reveals-soaring-cost-of-supply-teachers/ More than a third (32%) of teachers who qualified in the last 11 years have since left the profession, according to Labour analysis. Source - Retention data by year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e192f71b-b3de-4327-0e53-08db6f8340b7 // Newly qualified entrants to the state sector by year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/852bd885-7fee-4848-0e55-08db6f8340b7 A teacher who qualified in 2010 is 15% more likely to have left teaching within a decade than one who qualified in 2000, according to Labour’s analysis of the most recently available official figures. Source: Labour says government has created ‘perfect storm’ in England’s teaching workforce | Teacher shortages | The Guardian The Government has failed to reach its recruitment target for maths teachers in every year since 2012/13. To note, the number of trainees recruited did not meet the required target despite the Department for Education (DfE) its quota for maths trainees in 2022 by 27 per cent, from 2,800 to 2,040.
Sources: 2015/16 - 2022/23 Table_2_subjects_target_time_series https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2022-23 2012 - 2015 from: Table 1B. Initial teacher training new entrants by subject and target (detailed breakdown), 2004/05 to 2014/15, revised 1,2,3 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/438698/Main_tables_SFR48_2014.xls
Number of Teachers in STEM subjects and recruitment targets can be found below:
Research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has laid bare the impact of the recruitment challenges on pupils’ education and learning. Source: Teacher shortages: the impact of recruitment challenges on schools | Tes NAHT responds to Labour's preview of its plans for schools Responding to Labour's plans for schools, which are being previewed today, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said: "Schools are in the middle of a recruitment and retention crisis, so it is right that Labour should make this a high priority. "The ambition for every class to be taught by a qualified teacher is also welcome - every parent should be able to expect that their child is taught by someone with the requisite expertise. "Plans to improve early career training and ongoing professional development are sensible but Labour will need to be prepared to go further if they are to begin to solve the current crisis. "We know that issues such as uncompetitive pay and a punitive inspection system are key factors in pushing people out of the profession, and it is only by tackling these that we will see teaching and school leadership become an attractive proposition once again.” NAHT analysis has shown that almost a third (31%) of school leaders appointed under the age of 50 leave their posts within five years, more than half of whom (51%) quit state funded schools entirely. |
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