A new inquiry by the Education Select Committee is investigating the current state of teacher recruitment and retention, the main factors causing difficulties, and the impact on students.
In response to their call for evidence, we put together a submission based on what we know from the evidence base. Here are three key takeaways:
The teacher recruitment and retention crisis has – and will have – implications for education equity.
- Access to high-quality teaching is the most powerful lever we have for improving education outcomes, particularly for pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
- But the data is clear that schools with higher levels of disadvantaged pupils face the biggest recruitment and retention challenges. These schools, on average, have higher levels of staff turnover, as well as more unfilled vacancies and fewer subject-specialist teachers.
