Teachers: Retirement
(asked on 10th September 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many (1) primary, and (2) secondary, school teachers have taken early retirement in each of the last five years.
Information on the state-funded school workforce in England, including the number of qualified teachers who leave service each year and the number of teachers who retire, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, available on GOV.UK.
The closest measure available for teachers leaving the profession is the number of qualified teachers leaving service in the state-funded school sector in England.
The department does not hold information on the number of teachers taking early retirement. However, information is available on teachers and former teachers who first received Teachers' Pension Scheme benefits before normal retirement age, including actuarially reduced, ill-health and premature retirement benefits. School workforce data are published on an academic year basis, while Teachers' Pension Scheme awards are recorded on a financial year basis.
The information requested is provided below.
Full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers leaving the state-funded school sector each year, by phase
Academic year | Primary schools | Secondary schools |
2024/25 | 17,953 | 17,477 |
2023/24 | 19,078 | 18,370 |
2022/23 | 20,298 | 19,124 |
2021/22 | 20,743 | 18,948 |
2020/21 | 17,059 | 15,528 |
Notes: Includes those leaving the state-funded sector in England due to a change of career, joining other UK education sectors, retirement and those who died. Primary includes Nursery schools.
Source: School Workforce Census
Headcount number of teachers and former teachers who first received Teachers' Pension Scheme benefits (excluding normal age retirement), by phase
Financial year | Primary schools | Secondary schools |
2025-26 | 792 | 953 |
2024-25 | 694 | 800 |
2023-24 | 574 | 764 |
2022-23 | 903 | 1,086 |
2021-22 | 1,435 | 1,700 |
Notes: Includes actuarially reduced age retirements, ill-health retirements and premature retirements. Awards relating to normal age retirement have been excluded. These benefits may be awarded during service or after the teacher has left service. The number of awards may be revised for each past year as late applications for pension benefits are processed. Therefore, these figures differ to figures presented of leavers due to retirement.
Source: Teacher Pension Scheme