Toggle high contrast

TUC submission to Migration Advisory Committee on teacher shortages

Issue date

The TUC has submitted evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee's review of teacher shortages drawing on evidence from our affiliated teacher unions. Our submission highlights that there are shortages in both primary and secondary sectors across the country in a range of subjects.  We call for the government to address these shortages not only through migration policy - by putting all teachers on the Shortage Occupation List and making clear all EU citizens have the right to remain - but by addressing structural problems such as inadequate and under-resourced teacher training, the 1% pay cap and unsustainable workloads.


Introduction

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has 52 affiliated unions, representing almost six million members, who work in a wide variety of sectors and occupations including primary and secondary education.  This submission was drawn up in consultation with our affiliated teaching unions NUT, NASUWT, ATL and NAHT.  The TUC endorses the submissions of our affiliated unions to this consultation.

The TUC believes in a managed migration system where non-EU migrants with skills needed by the economy have a route into the country and are treated on equal terms and conditions to the resident workforce.

The TUC welcomes the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) call for evidence on shortages in teaching.[1] This submission highlights evidence of significant shortages in the sector that need to be urgently addressed to ensure staff are adequately supported in schools and every child has access to a quality education.

The TUC believes that the current issues experienced by schools in recruiting and retaining teachers across the country constitute a national shortage and these that necessitate that all subjects at primary and secondary level should be included on the Shortage Occupation list.

In the context of Britain’s negotiations to leave the EU, the TUC is concerned that EU citizens, a significant number of whom are working as primary and secondary teachers, are facing uncertainty over their status in the country.  This may negatively impact on staffing levels as some may decide to leave the country as a result of this uncertainty. The TUC believes the government must make clear that EU citizens in the UK have the right to remain in the UK and the right to equal treatment at work.[2]

Consultation questions

1. What are the overall trends in recruitment of foreign (European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA) born teachers in recent years?

Evidence from November 2015 indicates that one in six new teachers entering the profession qualified abroad.[3]  

2. What are the factors driving current demand for non-EEA teachers? Are these factors temporary or more structural?

The TUC believes there are a number of structural factors driving demand that include:

  • government failure to meet targets for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for the last four years. In 2015/16 the Government recruited 94% of its target for ITT and the year before it was 91%;[4]  
  • large numbers of teachers leaving the profession, with increasing numbers leaving for reasons other than retirement;
  • significant increases in pupil numbers which is expected to continue over the next decade -  the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimating that an additional 30,000 teachers will be needed by 2020;[5] and
  • government policy which has not allowed Local Authorities to build new schools.

3. What are the factors affecting the recruitment of teachers in the UK generally? What is driving this?

The Department for Education has recently reported an increase in the proportion of schools with vacancies between 2011 – 2015. It states there has been an increase in the proportion of primary schools with vacancies from an average of 4.2% to 6.9%. For secondary schools, the increase was from 16% to 23%. Inner and outer London had consistently higher rates of vacancies with 30.4% of outer London secondary schools reporting vacancies in 2015.[6]

Union surveys reveal the characteristics and drivers for these recruitment problems.

The NAHT 2015 national survey of its members[7] found that:

  • 26% of members had failed to recruit teachers on the main pay scale (excluding NQTs);
  • 24% of members had failed to recruit special needs education coordinators (SENCOs);
  • Shortages of teachers was the primary reason there was difficulty recruiting non-NQT roles; and
  • 67% of members in primary schools had difficulties recruiting Key Stage 2 teachers.

The NUT survey of leadership members conducted in April, meanwhile, found that:

  • nearly 75% were experiencing difficulties in recruiting teachers;
  • 61% said this had got worse or much worse over the last year;
  • 33% of primary school leaders were struggling to recruit Key Stage 2 teachers; and
  • 23% of primary school leaders were struggling to recruit Key Stage 1 teachers.

4. What are the issues around retention of teachers? Have these issues changed in recent years?

Evidence suggests the proportion of teachers leaving for reasons other than retirement is increasing. In 2014/2015 the number of teachers leaving for reasons other than age-related retirement was 75%, whereas in 2011, this was 64%.[8]

A survey carried out by the NUT and YouGov in October 2015 found that 53% of teachers were thinking of leaving the profession in the next two years. The top two reasons for leaving were ‘volume of workload’ (61%) and ‘seeking a better work/life balance’ (57%).[9]

In NASUWT’s 2015 Big Question survey of teachers and school leaders, workload was listed as the highest concern by 90% of members.[10] 

The most recent DfE teachers’ workload diary survey found that the average primary teacher worked nearly 60 hours and the average secondary teacher nearly 56 hours per week. [11]   

Unions also report that pay is a factor driving teachers out of the profession.  The government has capped pay at 1% which is below inflation and at a lower level than other graduate level jobs.

5. To what extent are there qualified teachers of working age, resident in the UK, who are not working in the profession? Why are they no longer working in the profession? Where did they go (e.g. retired, to work abroad, to work in a non-teaching job)? What is being done to attract these back to the profession?

The School Workforce statistics show there are 107,000 qualified teachers under 60 who have never worked in the state sector. There are 227,000 qualified teachers under 60 who have previously worked in the state sector but are now out of service.

The School Workforce Census (SWC) suggests that 30% of trainee teachers are no longer in teaching five years after they have finished training. The School Workforce statistics also show that in the year 2014 – 2015 over 50,000 teachers left the state sector.[12]

We do not have data on where these teachers may be working now, as the DfE does not track teachers’ employment outside of the state sector. As well as working in other jobs in the UK, it is likely an increasing number will also leave to work overseas due to the growing demand for teachers in international schools coupled with a fall in the value of the pound following the referendum vote to leave the EU.[13]

6. Are teachers with more experience more highly valued than teachers with less experience, i.e. are they paid more? Are newly qualified teachers preferred for employment as they cost less?

The TUC is concerned by evidence that suggests more experienced female teachers are seen as less desirable by some employers partly due to cost.  In 2015, the NUT undertook a survey of female members regarding the menopause. As part of this survey 50% of members said they were not valued. Some of the reasons included ‘we are just seen as expensive’.  One member in the survey stated that they had been ‘put on capability – teaching suddenly judged inadequate – when it had always been judged good or outstanding – however, the school was trying to save money by targeting senior staff’.

7. Do some areas of the UK experience a shortage of teachers while others do not? If so, what are some areas doing that others are not?

The survey data discussed in our response to question 3, above, indicates that schools across the country are reporting shortages in teaching. However there is evidence that shortages are particularly acute in areas of deprivation[14] as well as areas where the cost of living is high.  NAHT’s 2015 survey of members reported difficulties in recruiting staff in London and the South East due to the latter reason. [15]

How does supply and demand for teachers vary by subject taught? Are there specific teachers in certain subjects that are held to be in particular shortage? What are these and what evidence is there for shortage?

Evidence from NAHT’s 2015 survey of members shows that academies and free schools were almost twice as likely to report that they had failed to recruit staff as maintained schools.[16]

In the survey members also reported particular difficulties in recruiting in maths, SEN, English and general science teaching roles.

The NUT survey of leadership members, meanwhile, revealed the greatest difficulties for recruitment was in Maths (36% of school leaders indicated they were struggling to recruit in this area), followed by science (34%). A significant proportion of school leaders also reported that they were struggling to recruit English teachers (23%) and language teachers (15%).

The shortage of teachers in particular subjects is also demonstrated by the proportion of teachers who do not have a relevant qualification in the subject. In its recent report on ‘Training new teachers’, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee pointed to a recent finding by the National Audit Office that the proportion of lessons taught by non-specialist teachers was 44% for computer science, 43% for Spanish, 30% for religious education, 28% for physics and 25% for German.[17]

In a recent study of secondary school maths departments the Mathematics Association found that only 46% of maths departments were fully staffed for September. The survey found an increasing reliance on non-specialist, supply and unqualified teachers to teach maths throughout the country.[18] 

8. Secondary teachers in maths and some science subjects have been included on the SOL since 2008 – what steps have been taken to reduce this reliance on migrant teachers and how successful have these been?

The TUC does not believe adequate steps have been taken to train local workers in maths and science subjects since 2008. It was reported in July 2016 that more than a quarter of physics teachers dropped out of their course or could not find jobs last year, despite receiving bursaries of up to £25,000. 12% of trainee maths teachers also did not complete their course.[19]

9. If there is a shortage of teachers, the relative pay of teachers would be expected to rise. Has this happened? If not, why not?

The pay for teachers in maintained schools has not increased despite staff shortages as the government has capped the national pay award at 1%. 

Available evidence suggests that salaries in academies and free schools is even lower than the national agreed levels, although unions are concerned that pay in academies and free schools lacks transparency which makes it difficult to ascertain pay levels. 

In their 2016/17 pay recommendation, the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recognised that the government’s 1% pay cap for teachers is not sufficient. The STRB stated that ‘if current recruitment and retention trends continue we expect an uplift to the pay framework significantly higher than 1% will be required in the course of this Parliament to ensure an adequate supply of good teachers for schools in England and Wales’.[20]

Median graduate starting pay in the public sector at £21,000 lags behind starting pay in other sectors such as law firms (£41,000), banking and finance (£36,000), IT and telecommunications (£30,000), consulting (£31,500), accountancy and professional services (£30,300) and retail (£26,000).[21]

The TUC believes that the inadequate rates of pay teachers receive, which has not kept up with the cost of living, is a key factor that needs to be addressed to overcome teacher shortages.  The government’s policy of pay restraint must be scrapped and replaced by negotiations between teaching unions, the government and employers to agree decent wage rates.

10. To what extent is flexibility around pay and other financial incentives used to alleviate specific shortages? How successful have these been?

The TUC there does not believe it is economically viable to expect schools to pay significantly higher salaries in shortage subjects without substantially increased government funding for schools.

Currently, these extra costs coupled with the additional spending on recruitment and supply agencies (see our response to question 10) would put further pressure on schools’ budgets that are already experiencing significant real terms funding cuts of at least 8%, the first real-terms cuts since the mid-1990s.

11. What use is made of agencies and supply teachers to fill shortages? What is the cost to employers of using these sources? What is the experience of agency and supply teachers if they are being called on to fill shortages?

The TUC is concerned by the widespread use of agencies to fill vacancies at significant cost.

 The NAHT 2015 survey revealed that 56% of members said they recruited through agencies for permanent posts – where fees ranged from £7,000 to over £10,000 per teacher recruited.  The most common fee paid per vacancy recruited was £1,000 - £3,000 (44% of respondents paid a fee in this range). At the highest end 6% paid more than £7,000, including two schools that paid more than £10,000.

At a time when school’s budgets are under increased pressure, such costs mean schools have to make cuts to other provisions.

In May it was reported that schools spent over £800 million on supply staff in 2015 and they spent twice as much on buying in extra staff through private agencies than through local authority supply pools.[22]

12 The 2016 white paper “Educational Excellence Everywhere” (published by the Department for Education, March 2016) sets out proposals to attract and recruit world class teachers. What impact do you think these proposals will have on teacher recruitment and retention?

The TUC has concerns that the proposals in the white paper would continue the move towards school led rather than university led Initial Teacher Training (ITT) which will negatively impact on recruitment. The Schools Direct training route is often significantly under recruited, with no requirement for schools to fill all of their allocated places.

The TUC also believes the government’s policy of full academisation outlined in the white paper risks exacerbating teacher shortages by diverting resources away from training and recruitment of teachers.

13. What do partners think is likely to be the impact of proposed relaxation of Qualified Teacher Status?

The TUC is not in favour of the proposed relaxation of QTS as this would diminish the status of the profession and discourage graduates from selecting teaching as a career, exacerbating teacher shortages. The TUC also believes abolishing the nationally recognised standard of QTS can only damage the prospect of pupils across the country receiving a quality education.

The TUC calls on the government to withdraw plans to replace national QTS with localised accreditation and reaffirm a commitment to teaching being a graduate profession.

14. To what extent can existing teachers be retrained to teach the subjects of other teachers who have left? How would this affect the quality of education delivered?

As noted in our response to question 7, a significant proportion of subjects are being taught by teachers who do not have a relevant post A-level qualification. This shows that schools are already resorting to asking staff to teach outside of their specialist areas, as they are unable to recruit.

 It is important that any retraining strategy focuses on quality teaching. This means that teachers should have at least an A level qualification in the subject they are being retrained to teach. It also means that retraining should cover subject-specific training, including subject-specific pedagogical training. Further, it means that teachers successfully completing the retraining should continue to receive high-quality training and support.

 However, the TUC does not believe that retraining teachers will alleviate staff shortages due to heavy workload pressures faced by teachers, as noted in 5.3 teachers are working an average of 50-60 hours per week.

15. To what extent are migrant teachers (whether from within the EEA or outside of the EEA) adequate substitutes for experienced teachers (whether from within the UK or outside of it)?

While the TUC believes it is important for schools to be able to draw on teachers from outside of the EU to fill staff shortages, it is important that they are paid at the same level as resident teachers with equivalent experience. Staff shortages cannot be used as an excuse to undermine pay and conditions across the primary and secondary sector.

At the same time, it is important for salary levels in the Points Based System to be set in relation to current salary benchmarks.  We are concerned that the increase in the minimum salary thresholds for Tier 2 (General) workers – with the exception of maths, physics, chemistry, computer science and Mandarin – to £30,000 for experienced teachers is above the average level of pay classroom teachers currently receive due to the government’s policy of pay restraint. This is likely to restrict the number of teachers that can be recruited from outside the EU. 

16. To what extent could shortages of teachers be addressed by the numbers of teachers who could re-enter the profession if they were incentivised to do so? What changes would have most impact on incentivising re-entry teachers?

As highlighted in our response to question 5, there are significant numbers of teachers under the age of 60 who are not currently in service. Incentivising a substantial proportion of these to re-enter the profession could go some way towards alleviating teacher shortages.

The TUC believes the government needs to take a number of actions to encourage teachers to re-enter the profession, namely:

reducing the unsustainable workload and working hours;

  • improving teachers’ professional autonomy;
  • improving teachers’ pay so that it reflects increases in the cost of living;
  • providing support and training to teachers that have been out of the profession for a number of years; and
  • returning to meaningful collective bargaining with unions.

16. What proportion of newly qualified teachers do not go on to enter teaching as a profession? What is being done to reduce this number? Are there issues with the training offered to new teachers? What are these? Are there sufficient, strong links between training establishments and schools?

As highlighted in our response to question 5, there are over 100,000 qualified teachers under 60 who have never been in service. The most recent statistics which are available show that, of the teachers who qualified in 2013, over 10,000 have never been in service. This is the highest number of newly qualified teachers not entering the profession since 2005.

The TUC is concerned that current government programmes to train new teachers have not been effective in addressing national shortages. Around 11,000 state funded schools (57%) do not participate in School Direct, and these are often in rural areas and areas with high deprivation. There are concerns that schools which do participate in School Direct are able to ‘cherry-pick’ the best candidates, and therefore, may have an unfair advantage when it comes to recruitment.[23]

The TUC also has concerns that the Schools Direct training route has made it more difficult to establish how many teacher training vacancies are being filled in comparison with the higher education-based Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) route.  This is due to the fact that applicants to School Direct training may apply – and be offered places at –multiple individual schools at a time, meaning it cannot be established until trainees start if there are enough training places available. The TUC is concerned that schools across the country are having severe difficulties recruiting, and in many cases fail to recruit, qualified teachers in primary and secondary sectors.

17. What is being done to improve workforce planning to reduce a reliance on migrant teachers?

The TUC believes there has not been adequate workforce planning to address the supply and retention of teachers, as demonstrated by our responses to the above questions. 

The TUC believes that schools which recruit and employ Overseas Trained Teachers (OTTs) to fill vacancies should be required to show how they are training and recruiting teachers from the resident labour market, as well as supporting all teachers in the school.

18. What is being done to reduce reliance on migrant teachers as a safety valve at times of peak demand/maximum shortage?

The TUC believes the government has not taken adequate measures to reduce reliance on migrant teachers as a safety valve at times of peak demand, as discussed in our above responses.

 

[5] IFS (21 October 2015) ‘English schools will feel the pinch over the next five years’ [online]

[6] Department for Education (2016) Schools workforce in England 2010 to 2015: trends and geographical comparisons, online at: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/27180/1/SFR44_2016_text.pdf

[10] NASUWT 2015 Big Question survey

[11] Teachers’ workload diary survey 2013: Research report (February 2014) - TNS

[16] Ibid

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now