Deprived areas’ primaries have double the rate of staff vacancies

THERE ARE almost 1,000 teaching vacancies in Britain, with primary schools in the most deprived parts of the country seeing rates twice as high as more affluent areas.

As pupils return to school this week, union leaders have blamed the high vacancies on an escalating teacher recruitment and retention crisis, fuelled by excessive workload and year-on-year cuts to teachers’ pay.

According to the latest Government data, there were 920 vacancies for full-time permanent teachers in state-funded schools in England last year, a rate of 0.3 per cent of the total posts in the country,

And a further 3,280 full time posts – 0.9 per cent – were being temporarily filled on a contract of at least one term but less than a year, the figures reveal.

Across England, a total of 12.3 per cent of schools reported either a vacancy or a temporarilyfilled post.

In Yorkshire there were 139 full-time vacant posts at publiclyfunded schools when the snapshot was taken in November last year, representing 0.4 per cent of the total posts in the region.

There were also a further 267 full-time posts that had been temporarily filled, representing 0.7 per cent of Yorkshire’s total. Around the county, 11.4 per cent of schools had a vacancy or a temporarily-filled post.

Calderdale emerged as one of the top 20 local authorities in the country with the most challenging recruitment problems. The area saw the largest increase in full-time vacancies in primary and secondary schools between 2014 and 2016, going from four to 34. However, 31 of these vacancies were at one school. A Calderdale Council spokesperson said each individual school was directly responsible for its own vacancies.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said: “Vacancy rates are so high as a result of the escalating teacher recruitment and retention crisis which is being fuelled primarily by excessive workload and year-onyear cuts to teachers’ pay. This is making the job unsustainable for existing teachers and unattractive for prospective new recruits.”

The data also revealed that the vacancy rate in schools in the 20 per cent most deprived areas in the country was more than twice as high as schools in the richest areas. There is also a relationship between levels of deprivation and temporary filled posts in secondary schools.

Mr Keates said failing to ensure that all schools invest in qualified teachers will widen inequality and further reduce the life chances of the pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

“There is no sign that the recruitment and retention crisis is easing, if anything the signs are that it is getting worse, with high numbers stating that they are seriously considering leaving the profession,” he said.