Teacher recruitment and retention in England

There were around 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in England in November 2024. The number of pupils per teacher has increased in recent years.

Between 10% and 15% of newly qualified teachers left the state sector in their first year. Average teacher pay decreased by 10.4% from 2010/11 to 2022/23, and then increased by 5% to 2024/25.

How many teachers are there?

There were 468,258 full-time equivalent teachers in state schools in England in November 2024. Of these:

• Around 216,000 were nursery or primary school teachers
• Around 219,000 were secondary school teachers
• Around 29,000 were teachers in special schools or pupil referral units

The government has a target to increase the number of teachers by 6,500 by the end of the current parliament.

How many pupils are there for each teacher?

The pupil teacher ratio, the number of teachers per pupil, was 18.0 in 2024/25. This ratio differs for different kinds of school and was lower historically, as can be seen in the graph below.

Source:  DfE, Pupil to teacher ratio (Qualified and unqualified teachers), 2010/11 to 2024/25, published June 2025

How much are teachers paid?

The average (median) classroom teacher pay was £48,892 in 2024/25. Teacher pay was higher historically – It fell by 10.4% in real terms between 2010/11 and 2022/23. It has since risen by 5% in real terms from 2022/23 to 2024/25.

Source: DfE, School workforce in England 2024, published June 2025

How long do teachers stay working?

9% of teachers left the state-sector sector in 2023/24. This includes people retiring.

In recent years, between 10% and 15% of teachers have left the state-funded sector in their first year teaching, and between 30% and 33% within their first five years teaching. Teachers remained in post for longer historically.

Source: School workforce census, 5 June 2025. Note: Some data points for five-year averages are based on fewer than five years of data where insufficient time has passed for all years to be included. 

Are we training enough teachers?

The government sets targets for the number of teachers in training each year, based on how many they expect they will need in the future. In 2025/26, this target was exceeded for primary school teachers and was not met for secondary school teachers. Also, targets for training secondary school teachers were different for different subjects.

Source: Initial teacher training census, custom table

How much do teachers work compared with other professions?

Survey data suggests the average primary teacher worked 53.2 hours in a typical week in 2025, and the average secondary teacher worked 51.2 hours. Teachers work fewer days of the year than other professions: meaning this is equivalent in terms of total annual hours to other public sector professionals working between 43.4 and 47.2 hours weekly.

Initiatives to encourage recruitment and retention of teachers

There is a suite of financial incentives aimed at encouraging recruitment to initial teacher training, including bursaries and scholarships.

Since financial year 2018-19 the Government has been piloting the use of early career payments for teachers in certain subjects as a means of boosting retention rates.

Other recent initiatives aimed at encouraging teacher recruitment and retention include professional development opportunities, introducing a teacher vacancy website, which was rolled out nationally in April 2019, and a targeted student loan reimbursement scheme.