To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to improve staff retention rates in schools throughout the UK.
Answered on
12 July 2018
At the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference in March, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the development of a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers. The strategy will build on the existing work we have done to support schools and will involve ensuring a period of stability and clarifying the accountability system.
In May 2018, the Department published a response to our ‘Strengthening Qualified Teacher Status and improving career progression for teachers’ consultation, which will include introducing an extended induction period – supported by an Early Career Framework – and setting up a work-related sabbaticals pilot for more established teachers.
The Department has identified the most important factors that influence the decisions of those teachers who do decide to leave the profession and are working hard to tackle them. These include, for instance, our Workload Action Plan and encouraging schools to provide more flexible working arrangements.