Commenting on new government data published today, which shows teacher vacancies have doubled to more than 2,300 the past two years, while more than 40,000 teachers left their jobs in the last year, Ian Hartwright, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“No matter how government tries to spin it, today’s data shows that it is in denial over its failure to tackle the longstanding recruitment and retention crisis in teaching.

“Missed recruitment targets have been compounded by a miserable failure to stem the tide of those leaving the profession.  More than a decade of real terms cuts to pay, accompanied by crushing workload and the impact of high stakes inspection and accountability measures that drive ill-health, mean that teachers and leaders continue to walk away from an education system where funding is still below 2010 levels in real terms.

“Without urgent action, more education professionals will sadly decide that what should be a rewarding career is not for them, and pupils’ education and life chances will inevitably suffer.”

Mr Hartwright added that the proportion of newly qualified teachers that left after just one year had increased to almost 13%, despite the introduction of the Early Career Framework programme targeted at supporting teachers within the first two years of service.

“The concerns we repeatedly raised about the content overload, repetition and workload involved in the scheme for both new teachers and mentors were not acted upon, so we are sadly not surprised to see it appears to have had little positive impact,” he added.