They Behave For Me What's going on with recruitment and retention? With Jack Worth
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Oct 24, 2025 Jack Worth, Lead Economist at the National Foundation for Educational Research, dives into the complexities of teacher recruitment and retention. He analyzes how demographics and market forces shape the teaching landscape. Jack highlights the impact of the pandemic on teacher entry rates and discusses the critical factors that attract educators to the profession. He addresses the high stress levels faced by English teachers compared to their OECD peers and offers solutions for schools to enhance retention through improved working conditions and flexibility.
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Demographics And Economics Drive Teacher Supply
- Two dominant forces shape teacher supply and demand: demographics (pupil numbers) and economics (wider labour market attractiveness).
- These forces largely determine recruitment pressure and are hard for policy to fully control.
Baby Booms Create Big Teacher Demand Swings
- Rapid shifts in birth cohorts create big swings in teacher demand by phase over a decade.
- England faces falling primary cohorts ahead, easing primary recruitment but complicating long-term planning.
Pandemic Caused Temporary Recruitment Surge
- The pandemic briefly boosted teacher entrants because external jobs vanished, then recruitment collapsed as the wider labour market reopened.
- Policy moves like cutting bursaries amplified volatility and masked underlying market forces.