Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention in further education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Having sufficient and skilled further education (FE) teachers is key to deliver on the government’s skills missions and help learners achieve good outcomes. The department continues to assess retention in the FE workforce based on available data and sector engagement.
The most recent published figures indicate that for FE teachers starting in 2016, 51% were still in post by 2019. For those starting in 2014, 39% were still in post by 2019. The department also collects workforce data through the annual Further Education Workforce Data Collection.
To improve retention, the department is delivering several programmes, including the targeted retention incentive for teachers in priority shortage subjects, reforms to initial teacher education and a strengthened professional development pathway with additional support for special educational needs and disabilities training.
We will also continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Improving Education Together group, to understand drivers of retention and support meaningful improvement in teacher experience.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote teaching as a career path for young people and current teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Since July 2024, this government has taken targeted action to boost teacher supply. This work started with our reset of the relationship with the sector, to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, making it one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates wish to join. We have published our delivery plan for 6,500 new expert teachers, focusing delivery across three key themes:
We are offering recruitment incentives in the subjects where they are needed most, with significant investment in tax-free teacher training bursaries and scholarships of up to £31,000 for school and college teachers.
We have recognised the importance of teachers with a pay rise for school teachers and leaders of nearly 10% since this government took power.
Our approach is already starting to pay-off, with the secondary and special school workforce growing by 2,346 teachers between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to paying national non-domestic rates on behalf of early years education settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The small business rate relief scheme provides up to 100% relief for eligible businesses occupying one property with a rateable value of £12,000 or below and reduces bills up to £15,000. Furthermore, if a nursery is a charity, charitable rate relief provides 80% off rates bills, which can be topped up to 100% by the local authority.
The government funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements through the early years national funding formula for the three and four-year-old entitlement and a separate formula for the two-year-old and below entitlement. The hourly funding rate paid to local authorities for these entitlements is designed to recognise the average costs across different provider types and is intended to reflect staff and non-staff costs, including business rates. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%.
There are no current plans to extend the centralised payment system to private, voluntary, or independent early years settings or to make these settings exempt.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention amongst early years educators.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The turnover rate for all early years educators in private group-based and school-based providers is 16% and 7% respectively. A breakdown by qualification level is unavailable.
To boost recruitment and retention of early years teachers (EYTs) and meet the long-term ambition of having an EYT in every setting, the department will introduce EYT financial incentives worth a maximum of £4,500 per annum to support those working in the most disadvantaged communities. We expect the financial incentives to be available from autumn 2026 and will publish more detail in due course.
We are aiming to more than double the number of funded places on early years initial teacher training courses by 2028 and have introduced a new degree apprenticeship route to help more people become EYTs so that every child, no matter where they live, can benefit from high-quality early education.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of mental health and wellbeing amongst teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Supporting the wellbeing of our expert education workforce is critical to this government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for children and young people.
The department tracks teacher wellbeing through the longitudinal study, the Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders. Wave 4 shows improved wellbeing across all Office for National Statistics (ONS)-validated personal wellbeing measures in 2025. Average life satisfaction, happiness, and feelings of life being worthwhile all increased while average anxiety decreased.
Another means by which we commission research is by including ONS-validated personal wellbeing questions in the School and College Voice Survey to capture seasonal differences. The latest data shows that all wellbeing measures remain broadly in line with the same period last year.
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper announced £1 million of additional funding each year to provide up to 2,500 leaders with access to a safe and confidential space to develop new strategies to manage their resilience and capacity.
The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter sets out commitments from the department, Ofsted, schools and colleges to promote staff wellbeing. Over 4,300 schools and colleges have signed up.
We are tackling the wider pressures on teachers and leaders. The Child Poverty Strategy, the introduction of our strategy for ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, reform to children’s social care, and the expansion of access to specialist mental health professionals will enhance teachers’ day-to-day experience and strengthen their ability to deliver.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support the mental health of teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department takes the wellbeing and mental health of teachers very seriously.
We have worked with the sector to develop the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter which sets out commitments from the department, Ofsted, schools and colleges to protect and promote staff wellbeing. The charter can be used to inform a whole school or college approach to wellbeing. Over 4,300 schools and colleges have signed up.
The department has funded a mental health lead resource hub to support mental health leads which is available here: https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/. This includes resources to support staff development and wellbeing. The department also signposts to a range of mental health resources, including Education Support’s free 24-hour helpline.
From 2027, we will be investing £1 million additional funding each year to provide up to 2,500 leaders annually with support to develop new strategies to manage their mental health, resilience and capacity. This builds on our current £1.5 million investment for professional supervision for school and college leaders, delivered by Education Support. Over 1,400 leaders have benefitted since April 2024.
We are tackling the wider pressures on teachers and leaders. The Child Poverty Strategy, the introduction of our strategy for ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, reform to children’s social care, and the expansion of access to specialist mental health professionals will enhance teachers’ day-to-day experience and strengthen their ability to deliver.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support leadership development pathways for teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High quality professional development is important for teachers at all stages of their careers, ensuring they receive appropriate support and can continually improve their practice. The department offers five leadership National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), which help boost teachers’ and leaders’ knowledge and confidence as they progress into senior leadership roles, alongside five specialist NPQs for those who want to broaden their existing knowledge, expertise, and skills in specialist areas of leadership practice outside traditional leadership roles.
We are currently reviewing the NPQ suite to ensure courses remain up to date with best practice and evidence, support clear progression between leadership levels, and draw on insights from programmes such as the School Trust CEO programme
We will deliver a targeted package of interventions for Excellence in Leadership that update standards, strengthen professional development and support wellbeing. This includes additional investment in an early headship coaching, a new mentoring framework, and piloting a targeted place-based headteacher retention incentive. Together, these interventions reflect the government’s commitment to supporting high-quality leadership across the system.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention amongst secondary school educators.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published detailed plans on how we will recruit and retain more teachers in our 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving. Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
We will promote best practice in workload and wellbeing management, including flexible working opportunities, and tackle the external pressures where schools are filling the gaps.
The department also recognises the important role which pay, and financial reward play in attracting and retaining teachers. We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for the subjects and areas with greatest need, and we have implemented above inflation pay increases over the last two pay rounds where we accepted the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a nearly 10% award for school teachers and leaders
The last workforce census (June 2025) reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector. More teachers are also returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention amongst primary school educators.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published detailed plans on how we will recruit and retain more teachers in our 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving. Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
We will promote best practice in workload and wellbeing management, including flexible working opportunities, and tackle the external pressures where schools are filling the gaps.
The department also recognises the important role which pay, and financial reward play in attracting and retaining teachers. We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for the subjects and areas with greatest need, and we have implemented above inflation pay increases over the last two pay rounds where we accepted the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a nearly 10% award for school teachers and leaders
The last workforce census (June 2025) reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector. More teachers are also returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to produce a Teacher Retention Strategy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published detailed plans on how we will recruit and retain more teachers in our 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving. Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
We will promote best practice in workload and wellbeing management, including flexible working opportunities, and tackle the external pressures where schools are filling the gaps.
The department also recognises the important role which pay, and financial reward play in attracting and retaining teachers. We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for the subjects and areas with greatest need, and we have implemented above inflation pay increases over the last two pay rounds where we accepted the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a nearly 10% award for school teachers and leaders
The last workforce census (June 2025) reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector. More teachers are also returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.