Government scraps National Teaching Service
The Government has abandoned plans to create a National Teaching Service (NTS) following an unsuccessful pilot in the North West of England.
The initiative, launched by former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan in 2015, was intended to recruit good teachers to work in deprived areas. The goal was to see 1,500 of the country’s “top teaching talent” matched to the schools that need them the most, by 2020.
The North West pilot aimed to enlist up to 100 teachers to work in eligible primary and secondary schools across the region from September 2016. The TES reports that just 54 teachers were recruited after only 116 applied. In total, only 24 of those recruited have so far been matched with schools, according to the TES.
A Department for Education spokesman confirmed that the NTS “will not be progressing”, adding:
We are pleased with the level of interest in the pilot and the calibre of the successful candidates. However, following a review of the outcomes, we can confirm that we will not be progressing with the further rollout of the National Teaching Service.
We recognise that it is vitally important that schools, particularly in challenging areas, can recruit and retain excellent teachers, and we are determined to continue to support them to do this.
We will use the lessons learnt from the pilot to secure a better understanding of how to support schools in the future, and will set out future plans in due course.