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Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Monday, 7 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Teachers: Vacancies

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of teacher a) recruitment and b) retention on educational outcomes.

Answer

High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes. Which is why we committed to recruiting 6,500 additional secondary, special school and further education (FE) teachers over the course of this parliament.

In February, we published our delivery plan, focussing on three key themes; attracting, retaining and developing teachers. To ensure we have enough highly-skilled teachers in our schools and colleges to allow every child to achieve and thrive.

We have now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers, 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in FE, than in 2024/25.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
25628
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Teachers Vacancies
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk