Second Report - Teacher recruitment, training and retention

Select Committee
Education Committee HC 119 17 May 2024
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 69 items (18 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 69 of 69 classified)
Accepted 28
Accepted in Part 7
Acknowledged 12
Deferred 16
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 3
Government response
1st Special Report - Teacher recruitment, training and retention: Government Response · published 16 Jan 2025
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Recommendations & Conclusions

12 results
1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 20
Teacher numbers remain insufficient despite absolute increase, with missed recruitment targets.
Conclusion
There are now over 468,000 teachers which we accept as an improvement in absolute terms though not relative to pupil numbers. However, we recognise that this is still insufficient, particularly when we know recruitment targets continue to be missed, the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledged the importance of high-quality teachers and the challenges, stating its core objective is sufficient teachers and that it has pledged to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers while committing to tackling systemic issues.
Department for Education
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19 Recommendation Acknowledged
Rethink decision to cut Now Teach funding and introduce specific bursaries for career changers.
Recommendation
The Department should urgently rethink the decision to cut funding for Now Teach as career changers are an important group that have the potential to positively contribute towards improving secondary teacher numbers. Further, the Department should introduce more paid routes … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the value of career changers but has no plans to reintroduce funding for Now Teach, although it will keep the matter under review; they will continue to promote salaried routes into teaching.
Department for Education
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20 Recommendation Acknowledged
Para 91
Encourage former teachers to return by introducing specific training and bursary routes.
Recommendation
The Department should encourage the return of former teachers into the profession by introducing and promoting specific training and bursary routes for returners. We also recommend that the Department reviews how returning teachers can be used to address current issues … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government recognizes the value of returning teachers and will continue to promote routes back into teaching, work with the sector to develop resources and guidance, and explore opportunities to make it easier for teachers to return.
Department for Education
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24 Recommendation Acknowledged
Para 101
Review decision to cut international relocation payments and protect current international trainee teachers.
Recommendation
We are disappointed about recent changes to the international relocation payment which will exclude trainee teachers from the 2024 and 2025 academic years. We viewed this payment as a positive intervention to encourage the recruitment and training of international teachers … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Department acknowledges the value of the IRP but states that the decision to close the IRP to new applicants from the 2024/25 academic year was taken after careful consideration. They are exploring other ways to support international teachers.
Department for Education
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26 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 109
Continue to monitor impact of ITT reviews to ensure sufficient regional capacity and provision.
Conclusion
We are pleased that initial concerns that the initial teacher training review would result in ‘cold spots’ and further disparities have not come to fruition. We welcome the use of partnerships to allow de-accredited providers to merge with accredited providers … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government commits to undertaking a further review of the Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) package for future years, rather than committing to monitor the impact of ITT reviews on regional capacity and provision.
Department for Education
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33 Conclusion Acknowledged
Leadership-focused professional development limits teacher retention and non-leadership progression opportunities
Conclusion
We understand that when Continuing Professional Development is exclusively focused on leadership teacher retention can be undermined as teachers unwilling to take up such roles have limited opportunities for promotion or progression. We welcome the move towards more subject specific … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government described its NPQ programs and committed to establishing a process for reviewing the existing NPQ suite to ensure they remain evidence-based. They also pledged continued funding for NPQs in 2025 and the introduction of a new teacher training entitlement.
Department for Education
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40 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 165
Limited understanding of overlapping teacher shortages hinders effective targeting of financial incentives.
Conclusion
We know subject specific and regional teacher shortages persist and we acknowledge the Department’s interventions to address this. However, we have heard that there is limited data and understanding of how these shortages interact and where they overlap. Further analysis … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government recognized the benefit of more information on sub-national supply challenges but explained the difficulties in quantifying them, noting incentives are targeted by pupil premium deciles. They committed to continuing investment in the evidence base and keeping data collection under review.
Department for Education
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41 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 166
Publish detailed data on regional subject teacher shortages to inform financial incentives expansion.
Conclusion
The Department should collect and publish data on regional subject shortages in teacher supply. This data should be used to inform the expansion of financial incentives such as the Early Career Payment and Levelling Up Premium according to where there … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledged the benefit of collecting more sub-national supply information but highlighted the challenges in quantifying it and explained its current targeting of incentives by pupil premium deciles rather than regionally. They committed to continuing investment in the evidence base and keeping data collection under review.
Department for Education
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45 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 193
Subject knowledge enhancement programmes are valuable but must balance quality and flexibility.
Conclusion
We welcome the use of subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) programmes within Initial Teacher Training, where appropriate, as it is clear these programmes provide an opportunity to improve teaching capacity in subjects where there are specific issues in recruitment and retention. … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's welcome for SKE programmes, describing the current flexible SKE provision and stating that future options for SKE delivery from October 2025 onwards are currently under review.
Department for Education
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55 Conclusion Acknowledged
Para 227
School leaders lack understanding of flexible working's impact on pupil learning and finances.
Conclusion
There is a lack of understanding about how flexibility would impact schools, particularly the impact on pupils’ learning and school finances. Further information on this is required in order for school leaders to be able to implement flexible working policies … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for more information and states it is continuously building its evidence base through ongoing data collections, existing research, and monitoring its funded flexible working programme. It also plans stakeholder interviews and is seeking STRB's views.
Department for Education
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56 Recommendation Acknowledged
Para 228
Commission research into flexible working's impact on pupils, teacher retention and school finances.
Recommendation
The Department should commission research into the impact flexibility has on teaching and learning for pupils as well as teacher retention. Further research is also needed into the resource and financial implications of flexible working arrangements on the school budgets. Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states it is continuously building its flexible working evidence base through ongoing data collections and has published research on costs and benefits. It will monitor its funded flexible working programme, interview stakeholders, and consider future opportunities for research, including the STRB's views.
Department for Education
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63 Conclusion Acknowledged
Excessive teacher workload stems from a wide range of non-teaching tasks.
Conclusion
A wide range of non-teaching tasks are contributing to excessive teacher workload so efforts towards reducing teacher workload cannot be limited to reducing teaching hours or the Workload Reduction Toolkit. (Paragraph 259) 84 Teacher recruitment, training and retention Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges that teacher workload is driven by complex factors and highlights ongoing efforts, including implementing Workload Reduction Taskforce recommendations and launching new online services, committing to build on these findings for future action.
Department for Education
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