Combining qualitative, quantitative and immersive research with expert - and teacher - testimony, it paints an extraordinary picture of the state of the teaching profession in England’s secondary schools in 2023.
The crisis in staffroom morale, and the drivers pushing tens of thousands of teachers prematurely out of their careers, is set out in stark terms.
The Commission of Teacher Retention makes recommendations, that the government – and schools themselves – could make to stem the flow of pedagogical talent out of the classroom. They include:
- A call for a national review of the pay and conditions of teaching including their pay structure and their contracted hours;
- The Department for Education and its ministers should be held account for teacher retention data in the same way it is currently held account for teacher recruitment figures;
- Amid ever-increasing pressures being loaded on schools in the cost of living crisis and the post-covid era, official guidance of what is and isn’t a school’s responsibility;
- A formal review of school accountability including the function of Ofsted, looking specifically at the pressure it places on teachers;
- The creation of a fully-funded specialist Human Resources advisory service for schools, tasked with promoting and supporting them with the implementation flexible working and part-time arrangements;
- A national conversation about the significant shift in behaviour as well as the increase in emotional and mental health needs among children and young people. The additional pressure this places on teachers is unsustainable and goes beyond their professional expertise.
