Professor Lynne McKenna, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Society at the University of Sunderland (pictured left), has expressed serious concern about the challenges currently facing education providers in a sector still trying to play catch-up from the pandemic.

Speaking to more than 100 Department for Education (DfE) staff at an online DfE Women’s Network, Professor McKenna outlined the obstacles which she warned were contributing to what has become known as the ‘Great Resignation’ of teachers from the profession.

Professor McKenna said: “For school leaders, the challenges are clearly around catch-up and recovery as the world emerges from the pandemic.

“Our children have had over two years of disruption to their education. Of course, school leaders are managing this at a time in education where teachers are feeling rather bruised, battered and exhausted.

“Once the heroes of the pandemic, the teaching profession is once again finding itself under enormous pressure, with increased workloads and bureaucracy.

“All of these factors are contributing to what is being known as the ‘Great Resignation’, as experienced teachers are leaving the profession and there are not enough new teachers to replace them.

“Alongside this, there is an unprecedented decline in initial teacher training (ITT) applications which means the sector is facing a teacher recruitment crisis like no other. This at a point in time when we need teachers most to support with the recovery of ‘lost learning’.”

Professor McKenna highlighted the disruption that had been caused to providers of ITT due to the implementation of new DfE requirements.

She added: “ITT providers have endured four major disruptions which have been distracting to their own operation and to recruitment.

“There has been the unnecessary and inexplicable market review of ITT, the creation of the Institute of Teaching, the requirement for ITT providers go through a nonsensical accreditation process in order to deliver ITT from 2024, and changes to the Ofsted inspection framework, which has resulted in more than half of providers inspected under the new framework being artificially downgraded.

“Added to this, there has been the introduction of the ‘golden thread of teacher development’ which includes the introduction of the Core Content Framework (CCF) for ITT ), the introduction of the Early Career Framework (ECF) which is a structured two-year induction into the profession, and a suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs).

“The ECF requires schools to provide a mentor for early career teachers. While I wholeheartedly agree with and support the Early Career Framework, schools are experiencing difficulty in providing mentor support.

“The capacity to release teaching staff to mentor new teachers entering the profession, and trainee teachers on school experience, placements is severely constrained due to pressures on staffing within schools. Schools are therefore prioritising mentor support for ECTs rather than those undertaking initial teacher training. This is all contributing to a crisis in initial teacher training.

“Consequently, the future of the teaching profession, and thus the education of our nation’s children, is in serious jeopardy and will have far-reaching effects for years to come.

“We look forward to further embedding the CCF with our school and college partners, supporting schools and colleges with the early career framework and working with our partner teaching school hubs to promote the new NPQs. “Of course, there are opportunities ahead. For us at the University of Sunderland, we have much to look forward to. We have the introduction of a new BA (Hons) Primary Education with SEND which has been developed with our school partners. Most importantly, we are delighted that we are one of the pilot providers of International Teacher Qualified Status (iQTS).

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate that in the UK, and particularly in Sunderland, we truly are a world-leading provider of initial teacher training. We have much to be proud of and to look forward to in the future.”

In NAHT’s Leaky Pipeline survey this year, respondents reported a rise in the failure to recruit to deputy and assistant head roles, with 78% of deputy roles being difficult or failed to recruit and 70% of assistant head roles posing a similar problem.

Ms Mulholland continued: “More and more is being expected of schools and their leaders and yet funding and support for schools is being cut. This creates more and more pressure. At the same time, the methods used to hold schools to account have become increasingly punitive. One bad year of test or exam results for your school can lead to losing your job.

“When the system is causing this many leaders to walk away, something needs to change. That’s why the announcement by the Secretary of State that the government will look again at how it holds schools to account is an important and welcome move.”

The report finds that teachers work the joint highest number of hours annually and have the joint lowest average hourly pay of all three professions. And despite finding that teacher satisfaction levels are relatively high, it does acknowledge a retention crisis.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, commented:

“Anyone working in schools knows how rewarding it can be. Teachers are graduates, who have many career choices open to them – they go into teaching with passion, because they care and want to make a difference. But with teachers working the joint highest number of hours annually, with the joint lowest average hourly pay, there is a real danger of them burning out.

“This report shows that teachers are more likely to leave their profession than nurses or police officers – 12.3% per year, compared to 9.9% for nurses and 7.7% for police. While 78% of teachers say they are satisfied with their jobs, 47% said they were unhappy with their amount of leisure time.

“Workload is a huge issue for teachers. NFER state that teachers who leave appear to be motivated by reduced working hours and more opportunities for flexible working. And that, despite popular belief, the long hours that teachers work during term time substantially exceed the amount of extra holiday time they may receive. Unfortunately, many are finding the balance unworkable, and more and more great educators are simply tapping out.”

James Bowen, director of NAHT Edge, said: “The DfE’s own data shows that almost 1 in 3 teachers leave within 5 years of qualifying, and EPI research shows that more than half (52%) of teachers have less than 10 years’ experience. These are people that the profession can ill-afford to lose. Not only is the profession becoming less experienced, we are losing excellent teachers who have the potential to become school leaders in the future.”

Paul Whiteman continued: “Teachers’ real average hourly pay has seen a substantial fall over the last decade – 15% compared to 4% and 11% for nurses and police officers. The case for more money for schools and a lift of the 1% pay cap is overwhelming – and urgent.

“Teachers, nurses and the police are all vitally important to this country, our children, and to the future. We shouldn’t have to compare how badly treated they are; their true value should be reflected in their pay and conditions.”

“One reason the scheme has not delivered is that there are simply not enough teachers in the system. We have to get the basics right – proper starting pay and good working conditions.

“Yesterday’s annual report from Ofsted made this clear, and our own recruitment survey released in November confirms that schools are struggling to recruit. This is felt by all types of schools across all regions.”

James Bowen, director of middle leaders’ union NAHT Edge, says: “Whilst we are pleased that the government are finally taking steps to address the obvious problems with recruitment and retention, we need them to move beyond just tinkering at the edges with such schemes. Until they are prepared to address the real fundamental issues including teacher pay and workload these schemes are unlikely to have the desired impact.”

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Succession planning focuses on identifying potential future leaders to fill key positions.  In a climate of talent shortage and lack of confidence in leadership potential, there is renewed interest in succession planning.  59 per cent of senior teachers said it is set to become a higher priority in the future – with none suggesting it was going to become less important.

Despite this, the results suggested 35 per cent of schools are failing to undertake succession planning of any kind.  A similar poll of 100 HR directors working in the private sector revealed 21 per cent of employers across the UK fail to undertake succession planning.

Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, said: “Sound succession planning gives teachers a strong sense of having a clearly defined future within the school.  This is a powerful retention tool which taps into career fulfilment.  With escalating shortages at senior and middle level teaching professionals, it’s more important than ever to take all opportunities to retain the best and brightest teachers.  By ignoring its potential, senior teams and boards of governors alike are missing a trick. However, CEOs in the private sector have a luxury that Head Teachers simply don’t have – the support of an HR department”

However, amongst those schools that do succession plan, 43 per cent of senior teachers said they focus their succession planning on the top three levels of management and below – compared to the UK average of 37 per cent.

She continued: “When schools do succession planning – which admittedly is not as often as they should – schools do it well.  Education professionals look further into the future when they recruit and when they promote. They don’t just look at qualifications and skills, they look at staff/pupil/parent relationship building skills and the right fit.  We suspect that when it comes to hiring people who look like they might make good heads of department, or assistant heads, senior teams are using some of the skills they have honed in the classroom, rooting out potential in their students.”