Ministers aim to improve diversity in teaching and access to flexible working as part of their plan to boost the size of the workforce by 6,500. The government has this week published the for its years-old pledge to recruit additional teachers. While progress on the goal appears promising, experts have warned better long-term thinking is needed to address entrenched workforce issues. The boost was a manifesto pledge for Labour; ministers have since faced repeated criticism for moving goalposts and failing to explain how it would be achieved. Pledge 鈥榦n target鈥 The pledge initially promised 6,500 鈥渘ew teachers in key subjects鈥, but the metric later changed to measure overall workforce growth, including retained teachers. The Labour government said recruitment will target areas 鈥渨here the need is greatest鈥, including shortage subjects and disadvantaged areas. Progress will be measured against a baseline of 245,805 full-time equivalent teachers, working in secondaries, special schools, pupil referral units and FE colleges in 2023-24. The government says it remains 鈥渙n track鈥 to deliver its pledge. The secondary and special school workforce had grown by 2,346 by 2024-25, while FE teacher data is due in May. Boosting recruitment through equality Much of the plan to boost recruitment includes work already under way, and work to specifically grow the FE workforce. One goal is ensuring the schools workforce 鈥渞eflects the diversity of our communities鈥. A recent NFER report highlighted 鈥渟ignificant ethnic disparities鈥 in ITT rejection rates among UK applicants. This was not explained by differences in applicants, suggesting 鈥渄iscrimination has a role鈥. The NFER said neutralising this could see about 2,000 more teachers trained a year. The government will pilot 鈥渁nonymised鈥 teacher trainee applications, increase transparency by publishing more recruitment data, and improve how it collects information on ethnicity and disability in schools to 鈥渕onitor and address disparities鈥. The Office for Equality and Opportunity鈥檚 race equality unit will research 鈥渋mproving the recruitment, retention and progression鈥 of ethnic minority teachers. Allana Gay, founding member of BAMEed, said diversity should be more closely monitored at ITT provider level. She urged the government to move away from 鈥渢he gimmicks of 鈥榖lind鈥 recruitment鈥欌 and instead ensure ITT providers 鈥渁re mandated to connect with those from diverse鈥 backgrounds鈥. Allana Gay NFER lead economist Jack Worth said he was 鈥減leased鈥 by the equality focus, but warned anonymised applications must be carefully piloted and evaluated, noting 鈥渁 lack of rigorous evidence about what works鈥. Retention drive Retention is another central element of the 6,500-teacher plan, which concedes 鈥渢oo many鈥 find teaching 鈥渄ifficult and unsustainable鈥. A policy trailed ahead of the white paper is doubling full maternity pay from four weeks to eight. The DfE will fund a programme giving schools training, resources and peer support 鈥渢o normalise flexible working and manageable workloads鈥. This will be 鈥渁ligned to the wider school improvement strategy and promoted through RISE鈥, and will include a focus on staff returning from maternity leave. The plan cited changes being worked on to help tackle retention, such as tackling pupil behaviour, improving pay and increasing support for leaders. Professional development The third prong of the 6,500-teacher plan is developing staff through 鈥渃areer-long development opportunities鈥, to ensure a pipeline of 鈥渉igh-quality鈥 teachers and leaders. A new teacher training entitlement 鈥 another much-anticipated election pledge 鈥 鈥渨ill provide every school with access to high-quality continuous professional development (CPD)鈥, says the report. But the development appears focused primarily on SEND and leadership. Gareth Conyard Gareth Conyard, chief executive of the Teacher Development Trust, said he is 鈥渦nconvinced鈥 by the proposals, adding they remain 鈥渢op-down, with too little account taken of the importance of local context and teacher agency鈥. 鈥淲e worry that these proposals do little to address that or to create a permanent expectation around professional development,鈥 said Conyard. 鈥楳ust not rest on laurels鈥 Worth said 鈥渋mportant progress鈥 had been made on recruitment, with economic trends 鈥渄riving us towards鈥 better place on teacher supply鈥. But he warned the government must 鈥渘ot rest on [its] laurels鈥. Jack Worth 鈥淭hings can rapidly change again if you’re not careful, keeping an eye on things like keeping pay competitive and workload manageable,鈥 he added. Meanwhile MP Caroline Voaden, schools spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Simply hitting a headcount target is meaningless if the government fails to take real steps to achieve it.” “Teacher retention is paramount,” she said. “We must see a shift toward flexible timetabling to prevent burnout and explore targeted debt write-offs for those who stay in the profession.” Emma Hollis, CEO of the National Association of School-based Teacher Trainers, said while efforts to boost recruitment are 鈥渁lways welcome鈥, retention and workload 鈥渨ill remain the critical issues if the system is to deliver on its wider ambitions鈥. Emma Hollis She said there are 鈥渟ome really positive proposals鈥 aimed at tackling this, but they must be 鈥渋mplemented in a thoughtful, joined up and time-sensitive way鈥. 鈥楤ig gaps鈥 in plan Louis Barson, director of science, business and education at the Institute of Physics, said there are 鈥渂ig gaps鈥 in how the plan will address staffing issues in shortage subjects. A recent IOP report estimated England has a shortfall of 3,500 physics teachers. 鈥淭he government needs to set out how far this plan is expected to address [this] shortfall,鈥 said Barson.