Urgent action is needed to address the “growing sense of crisis” in schools over teacher shortages, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said today.

Its report Retaining and Developing the Teaching Workforce sets out the problems and makes recommendations on how to fix them.

Where MPs found that the DfE got it wrong:

• Its response to the “crisis brewing” in England’s schools was “sluggish and incoherent”
• The department did not understand why more teachers were leaving the profession
• It does not have a coherent plan to tackle teacher retention and development.
• It has a range of relatively small-scale initiatives but has not communicated these adequately to schools.
• The DfE tools to help reduce workload have had a very limited impact - only half of schools have used the tools and a third of these managed to reduce workload.
• The DfE does not seem to take into account the impact on workload of efficiency savings schools have had to make - such as bigger class sizes - and of its own decisions to change the curriculum and exams.
• The cost of living is the second most significant barrier to teacher retention after workload, and yet schools, which are under financial pressure, are not using pay flexibilities to help recruit and retain teachers.

How MPs think the DfE can address teacher shortages:

• In the next two months, the DfE should set out and communicate a coherent plan on how it will support schools to retain and develop teachers - including how it will measure success.
• It should work with schools to set out what is an acceptable level of teacher workload, monitor this through surveys and identify possible further interventions.
• By June, the committee wants to know the results of a pilot for a national vacancy service.
• It should act to control agency fees.
• It must promote flexible working for teachers
• It should take account of the housing requirements for teachers, particularly in high-cost areas, in order to support recruitment and retention. 

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