More than 500 Department for Education staff have applied for pay-outs to quit under a 鈥渟elective voluntary exit scheme鈥� for staff 鈥渨ho don鈥檛 have the skills the department needs for the future鈥�. The aim is to get staffing numbers 鈥渃loser鈥� to 2020 levels. According to official figures, the DfE and its agency the Education and Skills Funding Agency employed about 8,200 people when the scheme was launched in the autumn. In pre-pandemic February 2020, the two organisations had a joint headcount of about 7,400. If numbers are cut back to this level, this would mean a 10 per cent reduction, although the department insisted it was not a target-driven scheme. A Freedom of Information request by Schools Week has revealed 555 applications were received during a two-week window before Christmas, about 7 per cent of staff. The department said this was 鈥渂roadly in line with expectations鈥�. 鈥淲e are concentrating on having a skilled, effective workforce for the future that allows us to do the best we can for children and learners,鈥� it said. Staff are offered three weeks鈥� salary for each year of service if they leave by May. The applications will be considered using a 鈥渞obust and fair selection process鈥� in which the DfE will consider the 鈥渟kills the department needs for the future and the potential to realise efficiencies鈥�. The prime minister has asked every department to look for 鈥渢he most effective ways to secure value and maximise efficiency within budgets鈥�, although last year to cut 91,000 civil service jobs over three years. In October, the DfE鈥檚 staffing bill was about 拢40 million. The FDA senior civil servants鈥� union previously expressed concern that there was 鈥渘o real waste to be cut and minister priorities need to be delivered鈥� at the DfE.