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Schools in England

The evidence found on this page relates to teacher supply in schools in England. It is a resource for professional and research communities concerned with the recruitment and retention of teachers and support for their professional development. As such it is relevant for policy-makers, school leaders, leaders of Multi-Academy Trusts, professional bodies, providers of professional learning, researchers and practitioners undertaking studies of teacher retention and strategic development to enhance teachers’ working lives.

The majority of the evidence provided is open access. It includes policy documents, reports, academic journal articles, books and chapters, briefings and blogs, and news and commentary published since 2019.

Each summary is labelled with its resource type and tagged with one or more themes. You can use the filters below to show only the evidence of a particular resource type or on a particular theme, and selecting a tag on any summary will take you to all resources sharing that theme. The search bar covers the full library, so results may include evidence relating to Further Education as well as schools; the sector is shown on each result. Each summary links to the original source where it is available.

What helps to attract minority ethnic teachers in England?: Results from a national survey

Summary:

This paper reports on a national survey of 3,646 serving teachers to examine the factors impacting the attraction of teachers to work in schools and their reasons for leaving. Workload is identified as the biggest factor influencing teachers’ intentions to leave. Findings indicate that concerns about pay and the ethnic...
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Exploring Education Policy and Reform in England (2010 – 2024) and the Early Career Framework: The unfolding of an education ‘market’ for teacher development

Summary:

This chapter provides an overview and critical analysis of the Early Career Framework (ECF) education policy in England. This policy formed a fundamental part of the Department for Educations Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy in 2019, establishing a mandatory framework of professional formation for early career teachers (ECTs) to become...
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Early Career Teacher Entitlement: Great Expectations

Summary:

This book explores the expectations set by the Department for Education (DfE) in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2019) and provides insights into the experiences of Early Career Teachers and mentors working with Year 2 of the Early Career Framework. It examines the successes and failures that led to...
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Supporting Teacher Retention and Career Progression: Fostering Early Career Teacher Self-Efficacy Through Reflective Practice and Professional Development

Summary:

The education landscape in England faces a critical challenge: the significant and sustained attrition of early career teachers (ECTs) and its subsequent impact on education stability. This chapter addresses how reflective practice, and targeted professional development can foster self-efficacy, autonomy, and job satisfaction among ECTs, ultimately improving retention rates and...
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Exploring key predictors of teacher wellbeing, job satisfaction and burnout: Building a broader conceptualisation of teacher resilience. Briefing Note #1

Summary:

This Briefing Note from the ESRC project ‘Decentring the resilient teacher’, identifies the key predictors of teacher resilience related to wellbeing, job satisfaction and burnout. The policy recommendations urge a clear target outcome to underpin interventions in this area and emphasise that the priority is to enhance job satisfaction and...
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Government Evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body – annual reports

Summary:

The DfE evidence submissions to the STRB for each annual pay award cycle outline the government's assessment of teacher supply challenges and recruitment/retention strategy. They reflect contemporary issues impacting current and projected teacher supply. The documents present data on ITT recruitment, teacher leaving rates, and the government's commitment to additional...
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Ofsted Confirms Changes to Education Inspection and Unveils New Look Report Cards

Summary:

This announcement confirms Ofsted's new inspection framework featuring a new 5-point grading scale with an added 'exceptional' grade. Importantly for teacher wellbeing, Ofsted has implemented measures to address workload concerns following an independent review by Education Support, including adding an additional inspector to school inspection teams and allowing lead inspectors...
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Teacher recruitment, training and retention

Summary:

This is a set of publications related to the Education Committee’s investigation into teacher recruitment, training and retention (2023-2025). The Committee reviewed comprehensive evidence related to the challenges in training and securing a stable teaching profession and the impacts on pupils of the current challenges. The publications include oral and...
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Teacher Recruitment and Retention in 2025

Summary:

This mid-year 2025 report documents a significant slowdown in secondary teacher recruitment activity with job advertisements down 36% compared to the previous year and 27% lower than pre-pandemic 2018/19. The report identifies both supply- and demand-side factors contributing to the slowdown, notes that teachers' long-term commitment to the profession remains...
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