Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many teachers and lecturers worked in the further education sector in each of the past five years; and what estimate he has made of the number of teachers and lecturers working in that sector in each of the next five years.

Government does not collect information about the number of teachers and lecturers in further education and we have not made any estimates about future numbers. Colleges and other further education providers are independent institutions, responsible for their own staffing matters. The Education and Training Foundation is the independent sector led organisation responsible for standards in further education. Established in 2013, the Foundation is working with the sector to develop a comprehensive annual staff survey. Currently this is on a voluntary basis, but based on information from the 2012/13 academic year, it is estimated that were approximately 110,000 teachers in post in July 2013.

Government has funded a range of incentives and programmes to help recruit more graduates to teach in further education and raise the skills of the existing workforce, with a priority on maths, English and supporting learners with special education needs and disabilities. Full details of these initiatives are available from the Education and Training Foundation at http://www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/support-teacher-recruitment/