Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the National Deaf Children’s Society’s press release of 18 March 2019, A system in crisis: the daily battle for specialist teachers, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of specialist teachers.

The data collected via the School Workforce Census shows that full time equivalent teacher numbers in special schools have risen by 2,900 between 2010 and 2017 (19%).

However, the Department recognises that some schools, including special schools, are facing challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. That is why in January 2019 the Department launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which outlines four key areas for reform and investment. These include creating the right climate for leaders to establish supportive school cultures, transforming support for early career teachers, building a career structure that remains attractive to teachers as their careers and lives develop, and making it easier for people to become teachers.

Designed collaboratively with the sector, the centrepiece of the strategy is the Early Career Framework (ECF), which will underpin a fully funded, two year package of structured support for all early career teachers. The ECF draws on the best available research evidence and has been designed around the most effective forms of professional development for improving teacher retention for early career teachers. The strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy.

For the 2019/20 recruitment cycle, the Department is taking forward the successful recruitment strategies from the last cycle, including boosting our marketing and support to applicants, providing generous bursaries for priority subjects, making it easier to take the skills test, and working with providers to ensure we are accepting every applicant who is ready to train to teach.

The Department is also addressing the issues that teachers cite as reasons for leaving the profession, by continuing to work extensively with unions, teachers and Ofsted to challenge and remove unhelpful practices that create unnecessary workload.