Train the teacher, close the gap: IPPR report urges new training entitlement to raise school standards

The government should honour its promise to invest in the school workforce, beginning by providing £260 million to fund a new national entitlement to teacher training, says a report by the IPPR think tank and the education charity Ambition Institute. 

They say the additional funding, spread across the current parliament, could boost school standards, close the growing disadvantage gap, and improve retention by supporting additional training for 75 per cent of teachers within four years. 

The report says professional development is the most cost-effective and empowering way to achieve high quality teaching, which it identifies as the most powerful lever within schools' control to close the disadvantage gap. 

Yet it flags that most teachers in England take part in fewer than 30 hours a year of professional development, less than half the 62 hours average across other OECD advanced economies - and dwarfed by the right to 100 hours in Singapore, widely seen as a global leader in educational excellence. 

The report's authors underscore that more teacher training will also help tackle other major challenges that have brought many schools to crisis point - including meeting the complex needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the rising number of teachers leaving the profession. 

IPPR and Ambition Institute call for all teachers to be guaranteed free access to a core set of professional qualifications, including a new suite of short courses designed for busy mid-career teachers. These would generate a common body of knowledge and effectively serve as a training ‘passport', from career entry through to leadership. 

Crucially, the report says, the new training entitlement would make teaching a more attractive profession, with teachers feeling better invested in and more able to progress. 

The report comes ahead of the spending review and as leading teaching unions lay the groundwork for possible strike action over teachers' pay. It follows the pledge by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, to recruit an extra 6,500 teachers and her declaration that "the best recruitment strategy is a retention strategy". 

It sets out a blueprint for investing funding in professional development and making other changes aimed at putting an expanded training entitlement at the heart of school improvement, including: 

• A universal teacher development entitlement that is available to all teachers and school leaders nationally, and for the long-term, which builds on current strong foundations. 

• A career-long ‘golden thread' of recognised qualifications. This should be free for all teachers. 

• Teachers in schools with the most challenging circumstances should receive most support and opportunities, including free places on all government-funded programmes and grants to schools to cover the costs of providing cover, to speed up narrowing of the attainment gap. 

• The government should agree priority areas for improvement with the sector and focus extra training on building teachers' skills in these – with SEND and early years teaching identified as particular targets. 

The government's election manifesto included a commitment to introduce a new teacher training entitlement to ensure teachers stay up to date on best practice and continue their professional development. The report provides a blueprint for how it could deliver its commitment in a highly cost-effective way and deliver better outcomes for schools and the children they teach. 

Empowering schools and teachers is a prime example of how public services can become more efficient through investing in the expertise of their workforces, rather than through top-down target setting and ever tougher regulatory compliance, the report says. 

Loic Menzies, IPPR associate fellow and lead author of the report, said:  

“Investment in the expertise of all teachers and the wider education workforce is the best way to unleash a powerful cycle of improvement. “ 

“Right now, schools face a workforce crisis alongside a growing attainment gap. If we want schools to serve children of all backgrounds better, we need to invest in teachers and others in the classroom. That doesn't just mean pay – important though that is. We also need government to make good on its pre-election commitment to continuous professional development. Free access to a ‘golden thread' of high-quality training opportunities should sit at the heart of that commitment and would empower teachers to provide the world-class education our children deserve.” 

Marie Hamer MBE, Ambition Institute's executive director for strategy and impact, said:  
 
“The evidence is clear that the quality of teaching is the school-based factor with most influence over pupil outcomes. 

“Effective teaching disproportionately benefits pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities. If we want high and rising standards, then investing in developing expert teachers is our best option.” 

“The government's pre-election commitment to a ‘professional development entitlement' was a powerful sign of its ambition. Today's report provides a blueprint for turning that promise into a reality." 

Pepe Di'Iasio, Chair of the Who is Losing Learning Council and General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 

“As Chair of the Who is Losing Learning Solutions Council, I welcome this timely report. 

We cannot raise standards without raising the expertise of our teachers and school leaders. That is why professional development is so important.  
 
Crucially, this investment needs be implemented through proven, contextually informed strategies and prioritised in those places that need it most, and for those pupils who need it most.” 

Avnee Morjaria. IPPR associate director for public services and a former deputy head teacher and Ofsted inspector, said: 

“My own experiences in schools have taught me that teachers are the most important part of making a difference to pupil's lives. This is particularly true of those teaching the most disadvantaged pupils and in the most deprived areas.  

“The profession has been undervalued for too long. Teachers are difficult to recruit and are routinely leaving the profession. This is not just a pay issue; teachers need investment in their professional development so that they have the tools to teach well.  

“The government's pre-election commitment to a ‘professional development entitlement' demonstrates that it understands what a game changer investment in a ‘golden thread' of professional development can be. This report provides a compelling template for how that can be delivered.” 

ENDS 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

1. Methodology details: To estimate spend in the previous parliament, Ambition Institute used publicly available contracts to identify those where a significant element related to professional development.  
The £260 million is based on an estimate of £25 million for 21,000 NPQ places across 2024-25. Assuming a proportional spend, it would cost £48 million per annum for 40,000 places a year and a total of £190 million for four years. Short course qualifications are estimated to cost £66 million to provide 110,000 places across 3 years.  
 
2. To estimate the reach of 75 per cent of the workforce we used published data to base future estimates on. We accounted for 25,000 early career teachers (ECTs) each year from 2025-26 until 2028-29 giving a total of 100,000 ECTs. Combined with our estimate of the 290,000 from NPQs and short courses a total of 390,000 teachers would be trained out of a workforce of approximately 510,000. 
 

3. Ambition Institute is a national education charity that helps schools tackling educational disadvantage to keep getting better, and helps their teachers and school leaders to become more expert over time. Their vision is an education system where every child can thrive, no matter what their background.