Explained: The UK Teacher Shortage
Author: Brooke Marsden
Brooke is a member of Yipiyap’s Leadership Team and a former peer tutor, channelling her love of education into improving outcomes of learners nationwide. As a graduate of English and Creative Writing, she loves researching new ideas and presenting them in an imaginative way.
At Yipiyap, we’re proud to be able to introduce so many young people to the world of teaching. Many of our gap year tutors have gone on to careers in education - and for those who don’t, they step up to their future career with essential teaching and learning skills.
In our Explained series, we’re shedding light on some key pedagogical terminology for fledgling educators - and maybe even provide a refresher for seasoned teachers too!
What is the teacher shortage?
In recent years, the UK Teacher Shortage has caused major staffing issues around the country, harming learners’ education. We’ve all seen that teachers are leaving the profession now more than ever, but what is causing this crisis and what solutions are being weighed?
The UK teacher recruitment crisis
Firstly, the stream of young people starting a career in teaching has narrowed dramatically. The perception of teaching as a good choice of profession has been eroded by a reputation for heavy workloads, constant policy change, challenging student behaviour, and intense scrutiny by Ofsted. Most new teachers are motivated by the desire to make a difference and a love of working with children - but the challenging elements can weigh heavily in public perception, especially when other public sector roles offer similar benefits to teaching, with fewer drawbacks.
To try and improve numbers, universities are now offering bursaries and government funded degrees to attempt to entice more people into the career path. Recently, the government also introduced a teaching apprenticeship, to offer a non-university route into the profession.
Nonetheless, applications for initial teacher training have fallen by over a third since 2013.
Are primary and secondary school recruitment affected differently?
While both primary and secondary school recruitment fall below government targets, secondary school recruitment is faring significantly worse. The latest figures show recruitment for secondary school teachers as 50% below target, while primary trainee teacher recruitment was only 4% below target.
The UK teacher retention crisis
The second half of the issue is retention. Around 33% of new teachers leave within their first 5 years, citing unsustainable workloads and stress as primary reasons.
This element is self-perpetuating: the more teachers leave, the more the shortage of staff puts extra pressure onto those that stay. This increases the risk of more teachers leaving, and reduces the appeal of a career in teaching on the recruitment side.
What are the areas with teacher shortages in the UK?
The shortage is being felt more severely in certain regions. Rural areas have had lower teacher retention, and the South of England had the biggest disparity between vacancies and available teachers who did not want to re-enter the profession.
Which subjects have the worst teacher shortages?
Subjects with skills that are very niche or in high demand in other industries have the most severe teacher shortages.
Subjects that have particularly felt this effect include languages, design, maths, and physics. Roles in other industries may provide better pay, as well as more opportunities to make use of these skills.
What’s the impact of the teacher shortage on schools?
In order to maintain minimum staffing requirements, schools may reluctantly choose less-qualified recruits. This may affect the quality of education students might expect from a more experienced and specialised teacher.
Shortages put pressure on schools’ Senior Leadership Teams, who are required to step in and cover lessons. This allows less time for their other responsibilities - including improving recruitment and staff wellbeing.
Teachers who were drawn to the career by their passion for helping young people are kept in the role by that passion - but without feeling they’re really being rewarded for their sacrifices.
Fewer teachers means larger classes. This negatively impacts both teachers and students. Learners get less individual contact time from teachers, and teachers must juggle classes with a wide range of ability levels and behavioural needs.
What does teaching look like in other countries?
Managing teacher stress in schools
With teachers citing stress as a primary reason for leaving the profession, any solutions to the retention crisis will likely have to tackle stress. So, what can the UK education sector learn from approaches in other countries?
In many countries, the culture of schools is much more “open-door”. For example, in Shanghai, teachers typically come together to discuss lesson plans, teach in front of one another and share ideas.
Teachers in the UK also face a country-specific challenge in ‘Ofsted’. With a single-word Ofsted rating determining a school’s fate for the next four years, it’s understandable why schools feel under so much pressure to perform. Activists Robert Poole and Daniel Whittal said that “Ofsted created so much unnecessary anxiety and work” which “drives teachers away from the profession”. Educators in the UK have suggested measures to render the evaluation process more collaborative and judgements more nuanced.
Incentivising careers in teaching
Across Europe, teachers have more benefits and rewards to incentivise the career path. Anyone that has been teaching in a recognised establishment for over a year, for a minimum of 18 hours a week is eligible for an International Teacher Card, providing perks like discounted flights, free entry to museums, and discounts on entertainment and dining out. The UK has seen similar schemes, like the Blue Light Card available to workers in the emergency services, NHS, social care sector and armed forces.
Implementing a reward like this in the UK could alleviate some of the financial pressure on teachers, while rewarding them for their service. A token gesture like that is unlikely to make a huge difference - but every little helps.
What can be done to help?
The next steps for the government will likely have to address the retention side of the crisis, addressing issues like workload and pressure from Ofsted.
If money and teacher availability were no object, reducing teacher workload would be simple. With those barriers in place though, a practical solution may involve leveraging support staff and technology to reduce the burden on class teachers. This could help reduce teacher stress and preserve their time for the student-facing work that really motivates them.
Improving the perks of teaching could help reduce the impact of teachers being “poached” by other, more-attractive professions. The scale of this could range from a serious push on teacher pay to smaller marginal improvements, like a benefits card.
Turning to recruitment, the bursaries and funding in place already are seen as steps in the right direction. However, addressing the root of the retention crisis may well serve double duty, by transforming the profession’s reputation for the better.
Where do tutors fit into the teacher shortage?
Small group tuition aims to alleviate workload for teachers which, as we’ve identified, is a key factor that must be addressed.
One-to-one, small group tuition or in-class support are proven to improve academic performance, reaching those learners who may need extra support.
Supporting a teacher in class or by tutor-led interventions reduces the need for teacher-led interventions, which add to workload. In addition, having an extra presence in the classroom provides behaviour management for larger class sizes.
Targeted tutoring can be delivered at a lower cost to schools than recruiting additional teaching capacity, and without the same shortage of suitable staff. Both of these elements make it a practical option for relieving pressure on schools’ teacher recruitment needs.
So, if you’re a tutor, make sure you are actively helping to reduce teacher workload by being proactive - in the classroom, in interventions and with administrative tasks. That way you’ll be doing your bit to support teacher retention in our schools.
Considering a career in teaching? Read former Yipiyap Anna’s story of how tutoring kick-started a career in education.