Recruitment and Retention: Teachers

(asked on 26th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with education leaders in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West region on improving the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of newly-qualified teachers.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 1st December 2021

Ensuring that every child has a great teacher in front of them is why we published our Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy in 2019.

There are now more than 461,000 full time equivalent teachers working in schools across the country to inspire the next generation of young people. Over 41,000 new trainee teachers were recruited to start training in academic year 2020/21, which is 23% higher than the previous year, showing that teaching continues to be an attractive profession.

In the 2019/20 North West cohort, there were 4,382 total trainees. Provisional figures for the 2020/21 cohort show an increase to 6,750 total trainees.

The department recognises there is more to do to ensure this success is not short-lived and that we continue to attract and retain talented individuals in our classrooms. From September 2021, we are delivering the national rollout of the Early Career Framework reforms. New teachers will benefit from a 2-year, fully funded, comprehensive programme of training and support, including access to a trained mentor and a 5% reduction in contact time in their second year. This will build on initial teacher training to provide a solid foundation for a successful career in teaching, backed by over £130 million a year in funding when fully rolled out.

Reticulating Splines