NAHT Cymru comments on Teacher Labour Market in Wales Annual Report

Today (July 28) the Nuffield Foundation published ‘Teacher Labour Market in Wales Annual Report 2020’ which highlights the continued teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Wales.

As the report says, the teacher labour market in Wales has been weakening in recent years, with teacher recruitment and retention trends showing under-recruitment of trainee teachers, a dwindling pool of applicants and secondary vacancies increasingly going unfilled.

In response to the report, Laura Doel, NAHT Cymru Director, said: “This latest report by the Nuffield Foundation ‘Teacher Labour Market in Wales Annual Report 2020’ highlights what we already know to be the case in Welsh schools – we have a teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

“A complex combination of inadequate pay and pay progression, unaddressed workload and high stakes accountability have combined to make teaching relatively unattractive both to new entrants and those already employed within the profession.

“Attractive marketing and advertising, setting out the vocational rewards that can be gained from teaching will not solve the crisis alone.

“Teaching is a professional graduate occupation and should be rewarded commensurately.  Delivering competitive pay, clear pay progression and attractive working conditions is a central requirement if teaching is to compete with other graduate occupations.

“We eagerly await Education minister Kirsty Williams’ announcement on teachers’ pay in Wales, but fear that attempts to stifle the freedom of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body by insisting that affordability be a key consideration in forming its recommendations means that there lacks a commitment to tackle this issue.”