Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Ofsted ratings on the ability of a school to (1) attract, and (2) recruit, teaching staff.

The department does not hold data to assess the impact of Ofsted ratings on the ability of a school to attract and recruit teachers. However, the number of teachers remains high, with over 453,000 working in schools across the country, which is over 12,000 more than in 2010. This academic year (2020/21), we have provisionally recruited over 41,000 new trainee teachers – 23% more than last year (2019/20). The proportion of schools now rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding has also risen from 68% in 2010 to 86% in 2020.

We are moving forward with implementation of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy which the government published in January 2019. This includes commitments to reduce teacher workload, improve continuing professional development, and provide greater opportunities for flexible working.

Whilst delivering on these commitments will support all schools, we recognise that some schools and local areas face greater challenges with recruitment and retention than others. To supplement the national strategy, we are delivering targeted programmes to support recruitment and retention in challenging areas, including funding a range of regionally targeted initiatives.

The government is also committed to supporting leadership development for schools in challenging contexts so that all pupils receive equal access to excellent teaching. Over £40 million of scholarships funding has been made available between 2017 and 2020 to support teachers and leaders in the areas of the greatest need to take up a National Professional Qualification (NPQ). This funding has successfully supported many more people to access NPQ courses than originally intended, including those in some of our most challenging schools.