SOT0032

Written evidence submitted by the Association of School and College Leaders

A              Introduction

1.       The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) represents more than 18,000 heads, principals, deputies, vice-principals, assistant heads, business managers and other senior staff of maintained and independent schools and colleges throughout the UK. ASCL has members in more than 90 per cent of secondary schools and colleges of all types, responsible for the education of more than four million young people. This places the association in a unique position to consider this issue from the viewpoint of the leaders of secondary schools and of colleges.
 

2.       ASCL welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence on teacher supply, including the recruitment and retention of both classroom teachers and senior leaders. Teacher supply is of enormous importance to school leaders knowing, as we do, that a reliable supply of high quality teachers, teaching in well led schools is central to improving the life chances of our young people.
 

3.       Our submission is organised in line with the three questions of the inquiry, beginning with an executive summary, as follows:
 

A      Introduction

B       Executive summary

C       A response to the question ‘is there a 'crisis' in the recruitment and retention of teachers, including at senior levels of the profession, at a regional level, and by subject, and how the situation may develop during the 2015 Parliament?’

D      A response to the question, ‘what are the root causes of the current situation with regard to the supply of teachers?’

E       A response to the request for further recommendations and actions for government to tackle teacher shortages.

B              Executive summary

4. Teacher supply is now one of the most significant issues affecting schools and their communities. There is a crisis in the recruitment and retention of teachers, including at senior leadership level, at a regional level, and by subject which, unless responded to immediately, is predicted to get worse during the lifetime of this parliament.  This is evidenced by the experiences of school leaders, by an analysis in recruitment trends, including a failure to meet ITE targets for the third year in succession, and by data on the employment trends of senior school leaders.
5. The shortage of teachers is having serious consequences on the life chances of young people as schools are forced to find solutions to diminishing subject expertise, including modifying and reducing their curriculum offer, timetabling expertise at KS4 and KS5 in order not to disadvantage examination classes (sometimes reducing subject expertise at KS3) and expending a large proportion of their school budgets on recruitment costs, introductory fees to supply agencies and inflated teacher promotion costs as a retention strategy.
6. The root causes of the current situation derive from a fragmented system of teacher supply which has been compounded by the failure to recognise the once emerging problem of teacher supply which is now a crisis. Other factors include:
    

• The lack of a national strategy which uses reliable data to spot trends and which could have been used to inform long-term strategic planning
• A plethora of routes into teaching with an overly complex application process
• The lack of a central body coordinating a coherent strategy, in partnership with an emerging ‘middle tier’ (MATs, RSCs, with teaching schools and SCITTs). Clarification of the relationship between these bodies in addressing the teacher recruitment and retention issues would be beneficial
• A lack of strategic succession planning in senior leadership, made worse by current uncertainty surrounding the future of leadership organisations and the NPQH qualification

7. The profession and its school leadership organisations are working hard to find their own internal solutions to the teacher shortage. However, there is a role for government in responding to the root causes (set out above). A national strategy - a coordinated task force - is necessary to develop a cohesive strategic plan which aims to solve the long-term issue of teacher shortage and bring cohesion to a fractured system. The right organisations and individuals need to be round the table, thereby forming a partnership between the profession and government to address what is now a crisis for our country’s schools.

C              Is there a 'crisis' in the recruitment and retention of teachers, including at senior levels of the profession, at a regional level, and by subject, and how might the situation develop during the 2015 Parliament?

8.       In response to ASCL’s recent surveys, which were undertaken at the autumn regional conferences, 83.4% school leaders said that they were experiencing unprecedented challenges in recruiting teachers. Furthermore, in response to the question, ‘how did this year’s teacher recruitment compare to last?’ 44.6% of leaders stated that it was much more difficult than in previous years, 38.8% more difficult than in previous years and 15.3% the same as last year. Qualitative data, collated in response to a call for examples from headteachers, illustrated the depth of concern, with several respondents who have been in education for a number of years, comparing the current situation to that of the 1980s when recruitment was at crisis point. Teacher supply is now one of the most significant issues affecting schools and their communities.
 

9.       Despite regional variation and each region’s specific challenges, for example in coastal areas, teacher recruitment is now a concern throughout the country, including London, with its high teacher mobility. Schools that are geographically disparate, on the fringe of larger cities, ineligible to apply for teacher priority programmes or isolated from teacher training networks, for example university education departments, initial teacher education (ITE) school partnerships, teaching schools and school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) consortia, or are not in formal school partnerships, are less likely to have a regular supply of NQTs and early stage teachers.
 

10.  School leaders report that in addition to the shortage of teachers in STEM subjects there is now a shortage of teachers in all English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects. This has been made worse since 2014 when the unexpected announcement of compulsory EBacc led to schools having to make last minute changes to their curriculum and school timetables whilst recruiting additional teachers in EBacc subjects.
 

11.  Deploying teachers with suitable qualifications and higher level subject specialism to each key stage is a challenge at this time of teacher shortage which is having a negative impact on the quality of teaching at KS3: a point made in Ofsted’s latest report on KS3[1], which refers to schools deploying specialist teachers at KS4 and KS5 in order to prioritise examination outcomes. We understand that some sixth forms are unable to staff lessons for pupils who did not achieve a grade C in English or mathematics.
 

12.  Senior leaders’ concerns about teacher shortage are compounded by the realisation that the ‘pipeline’ into teaching is cracking. This is supported by evidence arising from a range of sources, including UCAS, the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and the DfE which has indicated, for the last three years, that target numbers for recruiting to initial teacher education have been missed. The latest data release for 2015-16 show that the recruitment targets for initial trainee teachers in secondary subjects has not been met for the third year in succession, and that only 82 per cent of places have been filled for the academic year 2015 to 2016.[2] This means that there are more than 3,400 fewer secondary trainees entering the profession this year than are needed.
 

13.  The decline in ITE applications coincides with a steady decline in the population of 21 year olds from 2016 through to 2022. This means the pool of graduates could continually fall, leading in turn to fewer teacher trainees. At the same time the number of 11 year olds will rise, with the ‘bulge’ in primary-aged children moving into the secondary sector, meaning that more teachers are needed. The supply of trainee teachers does not meet future demand.
 

14.  Teacher supply agencies has acquired more leverage during this time of teacher shortage and appear to have benefitted from the situation by charging high introductory fees for matching teachers to vacancies, brokering posts of responsibility for candidates and matching them with schools. These fees are payable by schools which has increased staffing costs. Similarly, trade papers are in a position to charge large sums to place an advert for a teacher, with ever increasing costs as teacher resignation deadlines approach.
 

15.  The supply of school leaders is also of concern. Analysis of the School Workforce Census, from 2011 – 2014, indicates that nationally there are more headteachers leaving the profession (per year as a proportion of the whole headteacher population) at 10.5% than there are new headteachers entering the profession (8.3%)[3]. Much has been written about the significant number of headteachers reaching retirement or retiring early each year[4]. Replacing these retiring headteachers is proving costly for schools, many of which have to re-advertise.
 

16.  Strategic succession planning for school leadership has, until recently, depended upon building a pipeline of school leaders through a national framework of professional development and qualifications, such as the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) and the National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership (NPQML), and with secured funding for key organisations such as the Future Leaders Trust. Current uncertainty about the future of NPQH, the role of NCTL and the proposed Leadership Foundation[5] reflects poorly on any government’s commitment to school leadership development, to succession planning and to the pipeline of school leaders.
 

17.  It is unsurprising that there is such variance between official DfE statistics on teacher supply and the actual experiences of our school communities. DfE statistics are gathered from a range of sources at different points in the year but rely heavily on lagged data from the annual school workforce census which is gathered from schools in November. The census does not gather data on school staff vacancies at the start of the academic year and, by November, school leaders have resolved staffing issues by, for example, reducing the curriculum offer, putting unqualified staff in the classroom or paying large fees to teacher supply agencies for temporary staff . In addition, the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) does not provide an accurate projection of teacher supply, in large part because it fails to analyse by geographical region. In order to gather data on teacher vacancies it would be important for the DfE to revise its methodology.

D              What are the root causes of the current situation with regard to the supply of teachers?

18. A range of factors have added to an already fragmented system of teacher supply which has been compounded by;
     

(a) failure to recognise the once emerging problem of teacher supply which is now a crisis,
 

(b) the lack of a national strategy which used secure and reliable data to spot trends and which could have been used to inform long-term strategic planning,
 

(c) a plethora of routes into teaching with an overly complex application process,
 

(d) The lack of a central body coordinating a coherent strategy, in partnership with an emerging ‘middle tier’ (multi-academy trusts (MATs), local authorities, regional schools commissioners (RSCs) with teaching schools and SCITTs) to address the teacher recruitment and retention[6] issues.

19. A request to ASCL school leaders to identify the root causes of the teacher supply crisis led to an oft repeated list, including the following:
20. An economic upturn which means that there are more vacancies in the jobs market generally, and more graduate level job vacancies than there has been since 2008 means that the career of ‘teaching’ is competing with careers that offer better financial incentives, greater flexibility, more opportunities for creativity and shorter working hours. Teaching as a career has received negative publicity, over time, from a range of media sources including documentaries on young teachers which emphasise crises, stresses and long working hours; media reporting on the high stakes accountability culture in schools and changes in behaviour and expectations for a younger generation of teachers and school leaders who are more mobile, both nationally and internationally.
21. The plethora of routes into teaching has caused confusion for applicants, school staff and school leaders. Confusion about routes into teaching and an unwieldy, over-complicated UCAS application process could in itself be a disincentive to potential candidates as well as to school leaders[7] who are in a position to promote teaching as a career.
22. The management of teacher training places from The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) to schools and universities has been unresponsive to schools’ needs. The School Direct Programme is variable and places have not been responsive to regional need.
23. The diversification of ITE provision has meant that several universities have had to reduce or close their programmes. In November 2014 a report into the impact of initial teacher education reforms on English higher education institutions stated that between 2012 and the academic year 2014/15 there has been a 23 percent reduction in university initial teacher education departments. The impact of this is to reduce the capacity of higher education to adequately train teachers, leading to subject disciplines being combined, thereby diluting expertise in subject knowledge and pedagogy.
24. A high stakes accountability system means that school leaders and their teachers are under constant pressure to ensure that performance indicators are met which sometimes leads to excessive workload both for teachers and school leaders. ASCL awaits any recommendations of the recently initiated teacher workload task group on this.

E              Further recommendations and actions for government to tackle teacher shortages.

25. The most immediate task is for government to accept that there is a teacher supply crisis. Its current methodology of data gathering on teacher vacancies needs to be developed if it genuinely wants to understand the issue in order to work to resolve it with the profession. Until that time the prognosis for teacher recruitment, retention and supply remains poor for the foreseeable future and certainly for the life of this parliament
26. A national strategy - a coordinated task force - is necessary to develop a coordinated strategic plan which aims to solve the long-term issue of teacher shortage and bring cohesion to a fractured system. The right organisations and individuals need to be involved, recruited because of their skills and professional expertise. Teaching schools, SCITTs, school alliances, as well as the ‘middle tier’ (RSCs, MATs and others) need to be at the table.
27. A national strategy would be research informed and evidence led. It would review and draw on models of teacher capacity building used nationally and internationally. For example, it is worth understanding the strategy of ‘over-recruitment’ employed in Canada and Finland, even if these are not ultimately adopted. Other models need to be considered.
28. In the absence of a coordinated task force to address this issue ASCL has developed a policy on ITE[8] and is working with its own council to identify solutions to the supply crisis. School leader participants who attended ASCL’s regional conferences drew up a list of ‘top-tips’ for schools which will be used as guidance for school leaders. This work was developed further at a recent policy forum led by ASCL and Policy Exchange, entitled ‘The Future of the Teaching Workforce’ which recommended long-term as well as short-term solutions. Some of these solutions are being crafted into recommendations and are divided into teacher-focused and system focused solutions, some of which overlap.

E1Teacher-focused solutions 

29. There is support for a profession-led campaign to attract people into teaching or back into teaching. The campaign would promote teaching as a competitive, high status profession, made up of the best graduates with a sense of social responsibility. It would have corporate backing (similar to Teach First’s origins), be supported by a media commitment which appeals to the challenge by reporting positive stories, not just stories of the now stereotyped ‘tough young teachers’ and it would use social media to recruit.
30. The quality of training and professional development is key. A professional learning ladder, of which ITE is the first rung, led and quality assured by the profession should be developed. The recommendations on Initial Teacher Education from the Carter review need to be implemented by developing a core curriculum with a strong foundation in subject knowledge and subject specific pedagogy, behaviour management, assessment and preparation for teaching students with special educational needs and disabilities. Training for subject mentors with agreed standards is essential. Attention needs to be given to better support for the transition from NQT year to early stage teaching.
31. Strong leaders prioritise continuous profession development and learning (CPDL). All CPDL leaders would benefit from an understanding of the CPDL curriculum pedagogy, including how to plan and deliver effective CPDL.[9]
32. It would be helpful to minimise employment risks, pay off student loans for those teaching in a challenging schools, and abandon PGCE fees.
33. Existing research findings on teacher employment and behaviours can be used to identify factors that would attract people into teaching and retain them once in. Factors might include the call to a moral purpose, promoting the benefits of teachers’ pensions and choice of employment locations, with opportunities to be more creative in teaching itself. Research on teacher retention suggests that initial teaching experience in a strong department with excellent leadership has long-term benefits to teacher retention. Therefore, the allocation of teachers in their early careers is key: a factor that government needs to consider in developing The National Teaching Service.

E2 System focused and structural solutions

34. Greater cohesion could be brought to the diverse system of teacher supply by simplifying the routes into teaching and modifying the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) and the allocation of ITE places. ‘Over-recruit’ to teaching.
35. Teaching school eligibility needs to be reviewed and revised to ensure that accreditation is based on the ability to train teachers, not on an Ofsted judgement alone. The Teaching School Council, SCITTs and universities need to develop partnerships of strategic co-ordination of ITE.
36. For areas where there is difficulty in recruitment a recruitment and retention offer would help to address particular shortfalls, as could a National Teaching Service that can deploy teachers more strategically. Consideration could be given to regional deployment of teachers via RSCs, MATs, teaching schools, SCITTs, and Ofsted Regional Directors.
37. The creation of a national supply teaching pool as an alternative to private supply agencies could cut costs for schools and ensure professional and ethical codes of conduct.
38. The profession should lead on its own professional development via the College of Teaching for teachers and the Leadership Foundation for senior leaders. These bodies should work in partnership to create an accredited, professional development framework and safeguard and nurture teaching as a noble profession.
39. I hope that this is of value to your consultation, ASCL is willing to be further consulted and to assist in any way that it can.

November 2015