Plans to further boost teacher recruitment and development

14 Nov 2017 05:05 PM

Staff at the National College for Teaching and Leadership and the Department for Education to form one team to support teachers at every stage of their career.

Staff at the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and the Department for Education will combine into one team to help better align efforts to attract the best and brightest into the profession, and support teachers at every stage of their career.

The department will take on teacher recruitment functions and the move will mean even closer coordination between the work already underway to improve schools and strengthen the profession, and the delivery of support to teachers in classrooms.

Regulation of the teaching profession, including misconduct hearings, will continue to be handled by an executive agency of the Department for Education. Led by existing teams at the NCTL, the executive agency known in future as the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Yesterday’s announcement is part of the ongoing work to support teachers to deliver a world-class education that will broaden horizons for young people.

Schools Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

There are now a record number of teachers in our schools – 15,500 more than in 2010 – and overall the number of new teachers entering our classrooms outnumbers those who retire or leave. We need to continue to attract the best and brightest into the profession, and to support their development throughout their careers.

Bringing these teams together within the Department will enable us to build on the work already underway to invest in the profession and better support teachers in the classroom.

The Teaching Regulation Agency will continue to be an executive agency of the Department for Education and will begin to operate from April 2018.

Chair of the National College of Teaching and Leadership Roger Pope said:

Having worked with the NCTL since October 2015, I have seen first-hand the benefits of the fantastic work by hard working staff across the organisation. It is right that as the education sector changes we adapt. This new approach will help ensure that all teachers get the support and recognition they deserve.

The department will work closely with staff, unions and stakeholders in the education sector to deliver these plans.

Yesterday’s announcement follows the recent confirmation of a number of measures to recruit and retain more great teachers, including:

• naming the 25 areas across England selected to run a pilot programme to reimburse student loan repayments for modern foreign languages and science teachers in the early years of their careers. For a teacher on £29,000, the new student loan repayments pilot and the increased student loan repayment threshold of £25,000 will mean £720 cash in pocket per year. This is the equivalent of an approximate £1,000 increase in salary
• naming the projects that will receive a share of the £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund. These projects will help provide tailored training opportunities for teachers on both managing challenging pupil behaviour and developing leadership, so they can make the most of their talent in the classroom
• the opening of the Institute for Teaching, a new specialist graduate school for teachers to support their continued training and development