Teachers: Lancashire
(asked on 5th May 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of teachers in Lancashire who have left the profession in the last (a) one, (b) two and (c) five years.
One of the Department’s priorities is to ensure that it continues to attract, retain and develop highly skilled teachers to inspire the next generation.
As at November 2021, the latest data available, there were 465,500 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state funded schools in England, of which 9,600 were in Lancashire. This is an increase of 4,400 since the previous year, and an increase of 170 in Lancashire.
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The table below provides the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving, and the leaving rate, from state funded schools in Lancashire Local Authority and England, for the 2016/17 to 2020/21 academic years, which is the latest data available.
FTE qualified teachers leaving and leaving rate1 from state funded schools
As at November 2016 to 2020:
| Lancashire | England | ||
| Leavers | Leaving rate | Leavers | Leaving rate |
2020/212 | 658 | 7.0% | 36,262 | 8.1% |
2019/20 | 702 | 7.5% | 32,249 | 7.3% |
2018/19 | 783 | 8.4% | 41,150 | 9.4% |
2017/18 | 865 | 9.5% | 43,102 | 9.8% |
2016/17 | 1,037 | 11.1% | 46,667 | 10.6% |
Source: School Workforce Census
1Leaving rate is the number of leavers divided by the total number of qualified teachers in post in November each year.
2For example, 2020/21 leavers are those who left service between November 2020 and November 2021.
Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors and those leaving on career breaks, such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may re-join a state funded school in England at a later date.
Almost 9 in 10 (87.5%) teachers who qualified in 2020 were still teaching one year after qualification, and just over two thirds (68.8%) of teachers who started teaching five years ago are still teaching.
The Department provides bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing for those starting teacher training in 2023/24.
Through the Department’s Levelling Up Premium, specialist teachers in the first 5 years of their career will be able to receive up to £3,000 tax-free each year from 2022/23 to 2024/25.
The Department has made good progress towards raising starting salaries to £30,000, with all new teachers to earn at least £28,000 from September, an 8.9% uplift, alongside a 5% pay award for more experienced teachers and leaders.
The Department is taking action to improve teacher quality and pupil outcomes by transforming the training and support we provide for teachers. The Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by 2024, giving all teachers and school leaders access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career, including providing specialist training to drive better literacy through a new National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy and a new National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership.