NFER, supported by the Nuffield Foundation, use newly available teacher census data to make robust teacher attrition rate comparisons between England and Wales. We compare the attrition rates of teachers in Wales with the attrition rates of teachers in schools in areas of England that have similar economic and contextual characteristics to Wales.
The study aims to test the hypothesis that teacher retention rates are higher in Wales than in England due to the different education policy approaches taken since devolution two decades ago. However, the research finds mixed evidence in support of the hypothesis, suggesting that approaches to education policy making taken in England and Wales since devolution do not appear to be associated with a significant uniform effect on teacher retention.
