The latest data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows that fewer teachers are retiring but that almost 40,000 working-age teachers left the profession in 2022, the highest number since records began in 2010.
The overall rate of teachers leaving in 2022 was similar to before the pandemic, at almost 10 per cent per year. This will contribute to workforce supply challenges in the coming years.
The pandemic led to a temporary lull in rates of leaving the state sector, likely owing to a combination of economic and practical factors.
But as restrictions lifted and job opportunities in the wider labour market recovered strongly, the leaving rate rose from 8.1 per cent to 9.7 per cent.
NFER’s latest analysis of recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) shows that the targets are highly unlikely to be met in most secondary subjects and overall secondary recruitment is likely to be less than half of the target.
