An infrastructure to address the roots of the recruitment/ retention crisis in schools: A lot of failed initiatives and a sustainable solution
The recruitment and retention crisis in UK schools has been making headlines for years and is an ongoing urgent issue with growing teacher shortages, increasing workloads, and concerns over pay. Recent data shows that more teachers are leaving the profession than entering it, while those who remain often face burnout. As this crisis deepens, it threatens not only the quality of education and learning experiences for students (data has shown that each 1% increase in teacher retention is associated with improved student performance (National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), 2021)) but the wellbeing and future opportunities of all those involved, restricting the capacity for the system to evolve.
Addressing this issue requires a multi-faceted approach. In this blog, we will examine the underlying causes of the recruitment and retention crisis and discuss potential strategies to address it.
The Current State of Teacher Recruitment and Retention
Over the past decade, the UK has seen a consistent decline in the number of new teachers entering the profession. According to the Department for Education (DfE), teacher recruitment targets have been significantly missed for several years in critical subject areas such as maths, science, and modern foreign languages. Simultaneously, experienced teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. A 2023 report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found that nearly one in three teachers leave the profession within five years of starting. There are several commonly reported reasons for this decline:
a. Workload and Burnout
UK teachers work some of the longest hours in Europe. A 2021 study by the Education Policy Institute found that teachers in England work an average of 50 hours per week, including significant unpaid overtime. The excessive workload, driven by administrative tasks, marking, and planning, leads to high levels of stress and burnout.
b. Pay Disparities
Despite recent government initiatives to raise starting salaries, UK teachers' pay lags behind many other professions requiring similar qualifications. While the government has pledged to raise starting salaries to £30,000, experienced teachers often face pay freezes, and salaries haven't kept pace with inflation; and all the while the cost of replacing a teacher in the UK (including recruitment, induction, and lost productivity) is estimated at £20,000 per teacher (NFER, 2021).
c. Lack of Support for Early-Career Teachers
Early Career Teachers (ECTs) face steep learning curves, often receiving variable levels of mentorship and support during their first few years in the classroom. This can lead to feelings of isolation and overwhelm, driving many out of the profession prematurely. When coached it goes a very different way, Schools offering strong mentorship and professional development programmes have up to 25% higher retention rates among early-career teachers (NFER, 2020).
d. Policy and Curriculum Pressures
Frequent changes to curriculum and assessment frameworks, along with high-stakes testing, create a culture of pressure and performance. Many teachers feel their professional identity is undermined by a system that prioritises results over student well-being and holistic education with prescriptive lessons that leave little scope for original input.
The Problem with Tackling The Symptoms
The issues outlined above are largely what appear on the surface, they are symptomatic of deeper causes. Very often it is these deeper causes that are the root of why teachers choose to leave a school or the profession altogether. Often these are wider organisational issues that arise as a result of schools and leaders that if pushed to the brink, enter crisis mode with an all consuming need to ‘fight fires’ which leaves little resource capacity to grow and develop as an employer and profession of choice for example A strong organisational culture can reduce employee turnover by up to 50% (Glassdoor, 2019)
In response to the symptoms there have been many unsucessful initiatives at both local and government levels targeting issues such as workload, support, working conditions, accountability and pay. Whilst there are several government and national initiatives worth commenting on such as the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the Early Career Framework, the Teach First, Subject-Shortage Incentives, performance relative pay, workload reduction initiatives and the NPQH qualifications. Here we would like to explore what schools themselves have attempted in order to solve the issue at a local level. Whilst these appear to be worthwhile solutions, they do not necessarily address the underlying causes of the staffing issue system wide and often are less successful in the long-term.
To name but a few these include:
Short-Term Recruitment Drives
Some schools attempt to resolve recruitment problems by launching intensive, short-term recruitment campaigns, offering temporary bonuses, or promoting the school heavily in local media or through social media platforms. These campaigns focus on attracting a large number of applicants quickly, often to fill urgent vacancies.
Why It Fails: Recruitment drives that focus solely on getting people in the door often fail to consider short-term fit and long-term retention. If new recruits are drawn in with temporary incentives but find the working conditions unsustainable, they are likely to leave. Additionally, short-term campaigns can mask the ongoing challenges in the school, leading to high staff turnover and a downturn in reputation.
One-Off Professional Development Days
Many schools offer one-off professional development days as a way to engage teachers and support their professional growth. These might focus on classroom management, new teaching methods, or subject-specific content.
Why It Fails: One-off professional development sessions are often too brief and generalised to create meaningful, lasting change. Teachers may feel they gain little from these sessions if they aren't followed up with ongoing coaching, personal feedback, or practical support. Without consistent development opportunities that are embedded into their everyday practice, teachers may not see how professional development helps them progress in their careers or solve the day-to-day challenges they face. Additionally what is offered may not be motivational to the teacher and therefore value and engagement are inhibited.
Superficial Workload Reduction Measures
Many schools acknowledge that teacher workload is a significant issue and implement policies intended to reduce it, such as cutting down on meetings, streamlining marking requirements, or using pre-made lesson plans.
Why It Fails: Often, these initiatives either don't go far enough or are undermined by other expectations, like the need to prepare for Ofsted inspections, maintain student data, or comply with new curriculum changes. Superficial workload reduction measures that don’t tackle the core of the problem — excessive documentation, constant assessments, or long hours spent on planning — can lead to disillusionment among staff.
Unrealistic Performance Management Systems
Many schools use performance management systems that tie teacher appraisals and progression to student outcomes, attendance rates, or exam results. These systems are often intended to reward good teaching and incentivise improvement.
Why It Fails: When performance management systems are based too heavily on metrics beyond teachers’ control, such as student test scores or behaviour, they can create resentment and demotivation. Teachers may feel that they are being unfairly judged, especially when working in challenging school environments. Unrealistic performance expectations can contribute to burnout and push teachers out of the profession.
Flipping the drivers draws humans in and removes resistance to growth
Our approach builds on the science that argues schools need to go deeper than extrinsic motivation and surface level solutions, after all the reasons that most of us entered the profession lie far deeper than our pay packet, the courses we can go on and the social events that we can attend. Addressing the retention and recruitment crisis at its root causes requires skill and nuance to foster intrinsic motivation and its partner, engagement. And it cannot be a one off. Processes and procedures to monitor and develop effective, automated, and sustainable initiatives so that a school can spend more of its money on the right things and move beyond the short-term scramble into a survival existence.
Our Reimagining Your Workforce Development Course does just that. We work with you through our carefully constructed values chain for you to identify the gaps within your organisation and design. We take a deeper, developmental approach using cutting edge diagnostics to design the effective processes to retain the staff that you have and recruit the talent that you are looking for with nuanced insight. The right people, in the right place, at the right time is essential to grow and flourish our system and underpins the deeper fundamentals of effective change management. By creating a value chain, this is no longer project management that often drifts into the ether, but embedded processes and systems that can constantly evolve, become optimised so reducing workload, increasing clarity and empowers effective governance informed by stakeholders responses.
Join us to explore how your state and climate can drive the motivation and engagement into a culture that provides your students and staff with an optimal learning experience, within an empowering infrastructure intentionally designed so all can realise their full potential.
Get more information and Sign up here:
https://glasshouselab.com/courses-1
References:
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER). (2021). https://www.air.org/centers/national-center-analysis-longitudinal-data-education-research-calder
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). (2021). Teacher Labour Market Report. https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/teacher-labour-market-in-england-2021/
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). (2020). Exploring Teacher Retention by School Type. https://www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-expertise/school-workforce/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-in-england-data-dashboard/
Glassdoor. (2019). Best places to work in the UK. https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-UK-2019-London-LST_KQ0,27_IL.28,34_IM1035.htm