The general secretary of the NEU teaching union has claimed that large multi-academy trusts are “havens for higher workload and poorer work-life balance”.
Daniel Kebede said it is a “myth” that academies are more attractive to teachers because they offer greater flexibility over pay and conditions.
He was speaking after the release of NEU analysis of teacher retention rates across free schools, MATs and local authority-maintained schools, which was based on a freedom-of-information request and School Workforce Census data.
The data shows that in the 2022-23 academic year, large MATs (defined as those with at least 21 schools) saw the highest rate of teacher turnover, with just over 21 per cent of teachers changing school and 11 per cent leaving the profession altogether.
‘Highest teacher turnover’ at large MATs
This compared with just over 15 per cent of teachers moving school and around 9 per cent quitting teaching at local authority-maintained schools, which had the lowest turnover rate.
The NEU confirmed to Tes that, in its analysis, those teachers who changed school could have moved to another within the same trust.
Commenting on the analysis, Mr Kebede said: “A myth has emerged in recent months that academies are a more attractive prospect for teachers because of flexibilities around pay and conditions. Evidence collected by the NEU shows the exact opposite to be the case.
“Far from being better places to work, our research reveals large MATs are havens for higher workload and poorer work-life balance for their staff.”
The data released by the NEU at its annual conference, which is taking place in Harrogate this week, does not account for differences between schools such as their location or intake.
At the large MAT with the lowest teacher retention rate, according to the analysis, more than half of the schools are sponsored academy converters, which tend to be taken on by trusts after being classed as underperforming.
Mr Kebede argued that the findings “underline the importance of ensuring that academies are brought into a national system of pay and conditions”, which he said would ensure a “level playing field for staff” and help to address the teaching recruitment and retention crisis.
The government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is set to bring academies into the same pay framework as maintained schools, meaning that there will be a “floor but no ceiling” on teacher pay according to education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
The NEU data also shows that special schools have the highest rate of teachers leaving the profession, while secondary schools have the lowest.
Breaking the data down by school structure, free schools across all phases of education had the lowest retention levels. Local authority-maintained schools had the highest retention levels, followed by academies.
In special free schools, the rate of teachers leaving the profession was 13.4 per cent, compared with 9.1 per cent in local authority-maintained special schools.
Accompanying the data, the NEU published more findings on teachers’ work-life balance from its State of Education survey, which attracted responses from more than 13,000 state school teachers in England in January and February. Some 75 per cent of respondents said they were either “often” or “always” unable to switch off from work-related thoughts and tasks when at home.
And 67 per cent of respondents in large MATs said they “often or “always” had to work evenings, compared with 59 per cent of teachers in local authority-maintained schools.
Some 61 per cent of teachers in large MATs said they “often” or “always work weekends, compared with 53 per cent in maintained schools.
Call to return academies to councils
Following a conference debate yesterday afternoon, NEU members voted for all academies to be returned to local authority control. Delegates booed when the six-figure salaries of academy trust leaders were read out.
The motion called on the NEU executive to write to MPs and ask them to introduce an amendment to the government’s schools bill to “create a legal route for academies to return” to their local authority.
Samuel Skerritt, director of public affairs and policy at the Confederation of School Trusts, the sector organisation for academy trusts, said: “Many school trusts have invested significantly in professional development for teachers, creating new staff roles working across trusts and encouraging teachers to develop by moving between schools within a trust, neither of which are reflected in this data.”
He also pointed to research by edtech firm Edurio in which 78 per cent of 70,000 teachers and support staff polled said being part of a trust was beneficial.
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