Teachers in England are leaving the classroom due to poor student behavior, low pay, and inflexible work arrangements, resulting in record-high vacancy rates for teaching positions, according to a report. The report warns that the upcoming spending review is the government’s last chance to meet its pledge of hiring 6,500 additional teachers in state schools, as younger teachers continue to leave the profession following the Covid pandemic and fewer graduates are enrolling as trainee teachers.
More than six teaching posts per 1,000 went unfilled last year, according to the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER), double the pre-pandemic vacancy rate in 2020 and six times higher than the NFER’s first measure of vacancies in 2010.
Jack Worth, an NFER expert and co-author of the report, stated that teacher recruitment and retention in England are in a precarious state and pose a risk to the quality of education. He emphasized the need for fully funded pay increases to retain teachers and attract new recruits.
The report noted that pupil behavior has become one of the main contributors to teacher workload since the pandemic, likely linked to mental health issues and challenges in supporting children with special educational needs. Teachers and school leaders have reported a marked deterioration in pupil behavior perceptions since the 2021-22 academic year, with a significant increase in the time spent dealing with behavioral incidents.
The report calls on the government to develop a new approach to supporting schools in improving pupil behavior, backed by improved support services and additional funding in the spending review. This would help to retain more teachers in the profession.
Patrick Roach, the general secretary of a teaching union, said that the report reinforces demands for a national workforce plan to address issues such as teacher pay, workload, and student behavior, which deter graduates from pursuing a teaching career and push current teachers out of the profession.
A Department for Education spokesperson stated that recruiting and retaining talented teachers is vital for improving life chances for all children. They are committed to resetting the relationship with the education workforce and working alongside them to make teaching an attractive and expert profession. This includes a plan to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers and providing £233m to encourage more people to enter the teaching field in subjects like math, physics, chemistry, and computing. Additionally, the DfE plans to support teachers’ wellbeing and workload pressures, including offering flexible working arrangements to keep more teachers in the profession.
The NFER noted that due to teacher shortages, class sizes are increasing, and more unqualified or non-specialist teachers are being used to fill gaps, particularly in subjects like physics.
The DfE’s inability to recruit enough trainee teachers has exacerbated the issue. Although last year’s 5.5% pay rise restored pay levels to 2010, the proposed 2.8% increase for 2025-26 is considered a missed opportunity for further recruitment gains.
The report also cited the lack of hybrid and flexible working arrangements, similar to other graduate labor markets, as a reason for teachers leaving the profession. School leaders can adopt flexible working practices, such as providing part-time working options and allowing teachers to plan, prepare, and assess from home, to improve teacher retention.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/13/teacher-vacancy-rates-record-high-england-report
