Britain is facing a teacher retention and recruitment crisis which has the potential to severely impact schools' ability to provide quality education to all students. The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) indicates that record numbers of teachers working in state schools – about one in ten – left the profession for reasons other than retirement in 2021-22. In a recent survey conducted as part of Education Support’s Commission on Teacher Retention, more than one in five secondary teachers expected to leave the profession within five years’ time. Meanwhile, new national data on the teacher labour market shows that across the vast majority of secondary subjects, recruitment targets are not being met, suggesting that teacher shortages are likely to intensify in the future.

In this IPR event, Professor Simon Burgess, Evelyn Forde MBE and Jack Worth discuss the factors influencing teacher retention and recruitment – such as excessive workload, insufficient pay, lack of career development opportunities, and challenging working environments – as well as the policy interventions that could improve the attractiveness of teaching as a profession. Hosted by Matt Dickson.

This IPR event took place on 22 February 2024.