A Labour government would give £2,400 to teachers in the very early stages of their career in England to try to stop them leaving the profession. The party says it would also make it compulsory for new teachers to have a formal teaching qualification or be working towards one – a requirement scrapped by the coalition in 2012. Nearly one in five teachers who qualified in 2020 have since quit, according to government figures. The pay boost would cost £50m a year. Teacher vacancies have doubled in the last two years, according to the most recent official data for England, while more than 40,000 left their jobs in the last year.
The plans to improve retention rates, announced by Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson on Sunday, would see new incentive payments awarded once teachers had completed a training programme known as the Early Career Framework, which covers their first two years in the classroom. Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Ms Phillipson said she would introduce extra payments for teachers who have completed their first two years of the early careers framework – a package of training and support for newly qualified educators. She told the the programme, payments to get teachers to stay in the profession will “recognise” their “really important development and training”. Ms Phillipson said she aims to “reset the relationship” between government and the profession.
Laura Kuenssberg emphasised how previous governments have offered one-off payments and repeatedly asked the Labour MP how her new plans would make a difference. Ms Philipson responded, saying, it is about “respecting and valuing” the profession. “Teachers and school leaders want the status of teaching restored once more, “she said. Labour says the payments would be funded by removing tax breaks for private schools. It also said it would offer more professional development to teachers and merge the “complex network” of different funds that provide financial incentives to teachers into just one, which it says would make it easier to fill shortages in specific subjects or geographical areas. Additional measures for all new teachers to have qualified teacher status would drive “high and rising standards” in England’s schools, the party said.
Education is a devolved issue, which means the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own rules. The current starting salary for qualified primary and secondary teachers in England is a minimum of £28,000 outside of London, rising to £34,502 in inner London. Since 2018, the government is already offering teachers in subjects hit by staffing shortages – Maths, chemistry, physics and languages – early-career payments of between £2,000 and £5,000 based on how long ago they completed their training. Teachers are eligible to apply for the payments from September 2023 and March 2024.
Academies and free schools in England have been able to recruit teachers without formal teaching qualifications since 2012, when the requirement was scrapped by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government. It is unclear if the new policy would affect private schools, which are also able to recruit teachers without formal qualifications. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), welcomed Labour’s plans but said the party could still do more. “Schools are in the middle of a recruitment and retention crisis, so it is right that Labour should make this a high priority,” he said.
“The ambition for every class to be taught by a qualified teacher is also welcome – every parent should be able to expect that their child is taught by someone with the requisite expertise. “Plans to improve early career training and ongoing professional development are sensible but Labour will need to be prepared to go further if they are to begin to solve the current crisis. “We know that issues such as uncompetitive pay and a punitive inspection system are key factors in pushing people out of the profession, and it is only by tackling these that we will see teaching and school leadership become an attractive proposition once again.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: “We have seen yet more evidence this morning that Labour cannot be trusted on a word they say. “Labour have flip-flopped so many times on education policy there is no guarantee they will actually stick to this latest announcement. “Only the Conservatives are delivering on education and driving up literacy rates – putting parents and pupils first.”
