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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.

Schools and colleges in the 2025 spending review

Summary:

This IFS briefing contextualises government funding decisions for schools and colleges ahead of the 2025 Spending Review. The report notes that mainstream school funding per pupil was set to rise by 5.8% (including teacher and support staff pay rises), discusses the adequacy of funding for achieving recruitment and retention targets,...
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School Teachers’ Review Body – annual reports

Summary:

The School Teachers’ Review Body makes annual reports to Parliament recommending teachers’ salary increases and provide comprehensive analysis of teacher recruitment and retention challenges. They include analyses of teachers’ pay over time and make broader observations related to contemporary issues of concern such as workload management, flexible working options, and...
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Use of Supply Teachers in Schools. Research Report

Summary:

This comprehensive research examines the supply teacher market in primary, secondary and special schools following the pandemic surge in supply teaching demand. Key findings show supply teacher demographics closely mirror the qualified teaching workforce, increased reliance on supply teachers across all school settings particularly since 2020/21, and concerns about quality...
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Missing Mothers

Summary:

The report is based on survey research with women teachers who leave teaching following maternity, typically in their thirties. This accounts for a large proportion of attrition from teaching after the early career stage. It recommends changes that could attract more women to return to teaching following becoming a parent,...
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Teacher Recruitment in England: What Are Schools in Disadvantaged Areas Doing to Attract New Staff?

Summary:

This blog examines teacher recruitment challenges particularly acute in schools serving disadvantaged communities where turnover rates are substantially higher. The blog explores strategies schools are adopting to attract and retain teachers despite serving pupils with greater needs and acknowledges the structural challenges facing disadvantaged school communities in competing for limited...
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Why we should all be concerned about the shortage of science teachers

Summary:

This NewScientist article argues that the shortage of qualified specialist science teachers is a threat to the future of science and engineering and that this is a concern for the UK and internationally. The article draws on research evidence that indicates the impacts of the lack of qualified science subject...
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The Knowledge: What works to improve recruitment and retention?

Summary:

This article sets out key findings from an Education Endowment Foundation review of international evidence on successful measures to recruit and retain teachers. It reports that financial incentives given directly to teachers, such as offering higher salaries or recruitment bonuses, could help to attract more teachers to take posts in...
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Six charts that explain the state of the teaching workforce in England

Summary:

This EPI analysis presents six key data visualisations illustrating teacher supply trends including recruitment shortfalls, retention patterns by experience level, regional variations in teacher supply, and the relationship between teacher quality and school disadvantage. The report highlights that retention of early-career teachers has fallen since the previous year but remains...
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The progression and retention of Teach First teachers. An analysis of the 2011 to 2017 Teach First cohorts

Summary:

This NFER evaluation compares progression and retention of Teach First teachers with similar teachers trained through other ITT routes. Key findings show Teach First teachers are significantly less likely to remain in teaching after their NQT [Newly Qualified Teacher] year than other PGCE teachers (gap narrowed from 23 percentage points...
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