The Teacher Tapp and SchoolDash annual report on teacher recruitment and retention, funded by Gatsby Foundation, provides insights into the current state of the teaching profession in England. By monitoring job advertisements and conducting surveys with over 10,000 teachers, the report presents key trends and challenges. Here are the key findings.
Key Finding 1: Secondary recruitment has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, yet schools are no better staffed. Job advertisements for secondary roles are down 27% on last year and 49% below the pre-pandemic 2018/19 baseline, a decline seen across every subject. But fewer vacancies have not eased staffing pressures: 21% of primary teachers now say their school is inadequately staffed with suitably qualified teachers, up from 16%, and reliance on non-specialists and temporary staff continues to grow. Schools are advertising less and absorbing shortfalls internally — not finding it easier to staff their classrooms.
Key Finding 2: Recruitment has become easier, but the benefits are deeply unequal. As the market has contracted, the difficulties schools face when hiring have eased across the board. Outcomes, however, are sharply stratified by disadvantage: 61% of fee-paying schools and 49% of the most affluent state schools appointed a strong candidate this year, compared with just 36% of the most deprived schools. This gap is driven by supply — disadvantaged schools attract markedly weaker applicant pools — rather than by how well they recruit.
Key Finding 3: Overseas recruitment is not filling the gap. Employing a non-UK national teacher is common in London (57% of schools) but rare elsewhere, and most such teachers already held the right to work in the UK rather than being recruited from abroad. Deliberate international recruitment for shortage subjects remains marginal — undertaken by just 3–18% of schools depending on region — and is held back chiefly by the cost and administrative burden of visa sponsorship. It is not currently relieving shortage-subject pressures.
Key Finding 4: Teachers’ long-term commitment remains well below pre-pandemic levels. Around 61% of teachers now expect to still be teaching in three years’ time, compared with roughly 75% before the pandemic. The figure has stabilised since 2022, but the persistent gap reflects ongoing challenges, including the burden of managing pupil behaviour and the limited flexibility of teaching relative to other careers. With a weak wider labour market currently suppressing departures, this leaves a latent risk of rising turnover if conditions improve.
Key Finding 5: The pipeline of future headteachers continues to narrow. Just 37% of deputy and assistant headteachers say they aspire to headship, down from 55% in 2017. Headteacher turnover in the secondary phase has also fallen to its lowest level outside the pandemic, raising concerns about leadership capacity in the years ahead.
