Background to the report

The Department for Education (DfE) considers that the school and college workforce will impact the Government’s ability to achieve its growth and opportunities missions first set out in summer 2024. It has focused on having enough high-quality teachers across all subjects and in all parts of the country. This relies on both high-quality teaching, which DfE sees as the factor within schools and colleges that has the biggest impact on educational outcomes, and there being enough teachers.

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Teacher shortages can impact quality if schools and further education colleges then use non-specialist or supply teachers, have larger class sizes, or limit the subjects offered. DfE currently sees not having enough teachers as a significant issue impacting educational outcomes for children and young people. 

Scope of the report

This report assesses whether DfE is achieving value for money through its work to recruit and retain teachers in state-funded secondary schools and further education colleges (including sixth-form colleges) in England. 

 This report examines DfE’s:  

  • understanding of the teacher workforce needs across secondary schools and further education colleges  
  • pay, financial and non-financial initiatives to address recruitment and retention needs, and how it brings these together  

Video summary

Emma Willson, the report’s director, summarises our findings.

Conclusions

Having enough good-quality teachers is fundamental to achieving positive outcomes for all secondary school and further education students. DfE has taken positive steps in seeking to understand and increase teacher numbers, with a range of initiatives budgeted to cost around £700 million in 2024-25. However, there remains a shortage of teachers, particularly in certain subjects, disadvantaged areas and further education colleges.  

Looking ahead, secondary school and further education student numbers will rise and DfE has identified not having enough teachers as an ongoing issue. In July 2024, the Government pledged to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers by the end of the current Parliament, but it is not yet clear whether this will fully address current and expected teacher shortages.

In developing its plans in line with the June 2025 multi-year spending review, DfE is considering how to split the 6,500 pledge across different educational settings, taking into account the fiscal environment and demographic changes. Following on from this, to be confident of allocating available funding in a way that delivers value for money, it needs to continue building its evidence base and exploring opportunities to consider challenges from a system perspective. 

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (30 Apr 2025)

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