Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Social Mobility Commission Report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, what steps she is taking to improve teacher retention and continuing professional development.

The 2016 School Workforce Census shows teacher retention rates have remained stable for teachers over the first five years of their careers. The vast majority of teachers are not considering leaving teaching (NFER Engaging Teachers 2016). We recognise that workload remains a concern for schools and teachers.

Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for the Government, to support the retention of high-quality teachers and free up teachers to do what they do best, which is to teach.

We recognised the problem of unnecessary workload when we launched the Workload Challenge in 2014. On 24 February 2017 we published the results of our workload survey and a clear action plan setting out the steps we will take to help tackle this issue, including targeted support for schools.

We believe that high quality professional development for teachers and leaders is crucial so that they can continue to improve their practice throughout their careers. As part of our commitment to create a strong culture of professional development, we introduced a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development in July 2016. This helps teachers and leaders identify and participate in the most effective development activities. It also encourages providers of professional development to ensure that they offer truly meet the needs of schools.

We are supporting the development of the new Chartered College of Teaching, a new professional body that will focus on helping teachers to access high quality professional development.

We have also announced a £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation fund, which will enable schools and providers in the most challenging areas to bid for funding for bespoke professional development opportunities. The fund will enable us to build and share our knowledge of what works.