Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention in further education.

Having sufficient and skilled further education (FE) teachers is key to deliver on the government’s skills missions and help learners achieve good outcomes. The department continues to assess retention in the FE workforce based on available data and sector engagement.

The most recent published figures indicate that for FE teachers starting in 2016, 51% were still in post by 2019. For those starting in 2014, 39% were still in post by 2019. The department also collects workforce data through the annual Further Education Workforce Data Collection.

To improve retention, the department is delivering several programmes, including the targeted retention incentive for teachers in priority shortage subjects, reforms to initial teacher education and a strengthened professional development pathway with additional support for special educational needs and disabilities training.

We will also continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Improving Education Together group, to understand drivers of retention and support meaningful improvement in teacher experience.