Research: Fewer teachers are moving job, school recruitment is lower
The ongoing situation and school closures as result of Covid-19 have a number of different implications for the education sector. We want to dig deeper into these issues, with help from the experts. This week, David Weston, Founder and CEO of Teacher Development Trust, explores the impact of the coronavirus crisis on recruitment.
New research suggests a significant decline in job mobility
Startling statistics on teacher recruitment have been revealed in a recent study from a collaboration between SchoolDash, Teacher Tapp and the Gatsby Foundation. The study found that there were around 3,000 fewer teacher recruitment advertisements on school websites between mid-May and the end of April compared to the same period in 2019, a fall of 38%.
Timo Hannay, Founding Managing Director of School Dash said, “Teacher recruitment among secondary schools, sixth form colleges and FE colleges in England declined suddenly in mid-March and continued at well below normal levels into early April, providing evidence of lower teacher turnover.
“At any other time of year, this might be seen as a major inconvenience, but the period from March to May is high season for recruiting teachers, most of whom are required to provide notice on their current positions by the end May.”
The sudden fall seems best explained by a combination of teachers staying put and schools having difficulty in recruiting during the lockdown.
To help explain the reasons for the decline in recruitment, Teacher Tapp surveyed several thousand teachers across England at the end of March to ask about their short-term career plans and find out how, if at all, these have changed in light of the pandemic. The results found that 12.5% of teachers who were planning to move jobs have decided not to – potentially due to the current uncertainty around when schools will fully reopen and the economy.
TeacherTapp also surveyed nearly 2,000 school leaders to better understand the reasons behind the sudden decline in recruiting activity. Many cited that they had found difficulties conducting their usual recruitment, application and selection processes during the lockdown, when school visits, in-person interviews and classroom assessments are impossible.
Professor Becky Allen, Chief Analyst and a co-founder at Teacher Tapp, said, “The key questions now are whether schools will be able to catch up with postponed hiring, and whether they will feel confident in making appointments based on remote interviews. Some may seek to fill gaps with temporary or supply teachers. Also, if staff turnover is reduced, there could be knock-on effects for newly qualified teachers or those seeking to re-enter the profession. We will continue to monitor this area closely and report again on any new and interesting developments.”
Timo Hannay added, “Whatever the cause, one potentially serious risk from a slowdown in teacher recruitment is increased difficulty in placing newly qualified teachers (NQTs), who might then be lost to the profession. Fortunately, they don’t generally face the same end-of-May deadline as other teachers for handing in their notice, so there’s still time to mitigate any foreseeable repercussions. The government and other participants should be considering this carefully.”
Some have expressed concerns that recruiting new teachers in subjects where there are already shortages, such as science and maths, could be particularly challenging.
Sir John Holman, Senior Adviser to The Gatsby Foundation, said, “These findings are concerning as lower mobility of people moving out of schools means fewer opportunities for NQTs moving into schools – including those who are specialists in shortage subjects like Physics.”
He added: “I’d urge Headteachers to continue recruiting where possible, and to look at over-recruiting teachers in shortage subjects if they can.”
Teacher Development Trust has hosted a webinar and created supporting guidance for school leaders on this issue which you can access through the website.