Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the proportion of supply teachers employed through private agencies in (a) England and (b) the devolved Administrations.

The school workforce census does not identify supply teachers in England. However, teachers who are not directly employed by the school or local authority and who are in school on census day (early November each year) with a contract or service agreement lasting fewer than 28 days are recorded as ‘occasional’ teachers. In November 2024, schools reported 17,600 occasional teachers (headcount) on census day. This is up from the previous year when 15,800 were reported. The department only collects this information from state-schools in England. Education in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter for the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Governments.

A survey conducted by the department in 2023 (“Use of supply teachers in schools”) found that 85% of supply teachers surveyed said they had obtained work through supply teacher agencies.

Just under half of all supply teachers surveyed (47%) wanted to stop working as a supply teacher within 12 months. 47% of those who wanted to stop working as a supply teacher wanted to leave in order to take up a permanent teaching position.