The UK National Foundation for Educational (NFER) research have published the first of what they say will be an annual report on the state of the teacher Labour Market.

The Key Findings are as follows:

• The secondary school system is facing a substantial teacher supply challenge over the next decade, which requires urgent action.
• Retention rates of early-career teachers (between two and five years into their careers) have dropped significantly between 2012 and 2018.
• Alternative sources of teacher supply, such as returners and overseas-trained teachers, have not increased in spite of the growing supply challenge.
• One in five teachers (20 per cent) feel tense about their job most or all of the time, compared to 13 per cent of similar professionals. Two out of five teachers (41 per cent) are dissatisfied with their amount of leisure time, compared to 32 per cent of similar professionals.
• Teaching’s traditional ‘recession-proof’ advantage over other professions has eroded over time due to a relatively strong graduate labour market. High job security for graduates outside of teaching makes it harder to attract them into teaching and retain them.

They say teachers’ working conditions are a fundamental lever to effecting change over teacher recruitment and retention.

The full report can be downloaded from the NFER website.