Ministers must monitor how workload-reduction initiatives are performing in schools, axe 鈥渟hort-sighted鈥 cuts to recruitment and training, and collect data on why teachers quit, MPs have said. Publishing a report on its teacher recruitment and retention inquiry, chair Robin Walker said the government must 鈥渦se all the tools in the box鈥 to resolve problems. Robin Walker He added it is 鈥渆ssential we have a teaching workforce that feels respected and rewarded, or else the shortfalls in key subjects will deepen鈥. But Daniel Kebede, National Education Union general secretary, said the proposals were 鈥渋nsufficient and too piecemeal to meet the challenge of teacher recruitment and retention鈥. Here is a breakdown of the committee report findings… 1. Monitor impact of workload reduction in schools The government has pledged to cut the average working week by five hours. It has promised to ditch performance-related pay and published a list of administrative tasks teachers shouldn鈥檛 have to do. Further recommendations from the Department for Education鈥檚 workload reduction taskforce are expected soon. The education committee said the DfE should 鈥減ut measures in place to monitor the implementation of strategies and solutions across schools and trusts鈥. It told Schools Week this was so the DfE could 鈥渓earn lessons鈥 from its own initiatives and how well they land with schools. The taskforce鈥檚 proposals should be implemented as a 鈥渕atter of urgency鈥, with the DfE reviewing progress in spring 2025, MPs added. 2. Collect data on why teachers leave MPs said the DfE should 鈥渃ollect and publish data on the attrition of teachers by subject, particularly those in their first five years of teaching鈥. Data should also be collected on the reason teachers are leaving, to 鈥渋mprove understanding of why particular subjects are experiencing higher attrition than others and to help target retention strategies as effectively as possible鈥. The department should collect and publish data on regional subject shortages in teacher supply. Currently data is collected only for those 鈥渙ut of service鈥, or who retire or die. 3. Boost financial incentives MPs said teacher pay 鈥渕ust keep pace year-on-year with other comparable sectors鈥 to make the profession competitive and boost recruitment and retention, despite budget pressures. Lower-valued bursaries should be introduced or increased for other shortage subjects, MPs said. Government should also 鈥渆xpand the levelling-up premium and early career payments according to subject and regional demand鈥 and roll them out nationally 鈥渋f they continue to be a success鈥. The Department should monitor the attrition of those who receive these payments. This would 鈥渋mprove understanding of whether there is a 鈥榩ostponement effect鈥 amongst recipients, where they leave the profession once these payments stop鈥. 4. Improve alternative routes into teaching The DfE should 鈥渦rgently rethink鈥 axing funding for Now Teach, a recruitment programme aimed at persuading high-flying professionals to change career. Government should also introduce more paid routes into teaching and bursaries specifically for those making a career change and for former teachers returning to the profession, MPs added. MPs urged the DfE to review its decision to cut back the 拢10,000 teacher relocation payment scheme to attract staff from overseas. 5. Reinstate other axed schemes, too The committee also urged the DfE to 鈥渞einstate funding鈥 subject knowledge enhancement courses in primary school maths, DT, English, biology and RE, after funding for teacher training top-up courses was slashed. Funding for national professional qualifications should also be 鈥渞einstated for all teachers to be able to benefit鈥. But no cost analysis was provided alongside the recommendations. The DfE says… A DfE spokesperson said there were now “record numbers of teachers in our schools with over 468,000 in the workforce, a 27,000 increase since 2010, and 59,600 more teaching assistants since 2011”. However, as our fact check last year found, pupil numbers have risen almost twice as much in that time. 鈥淭o continue attracting the best and brightest, we offer bursaries and scholarships of up to 拢30,000 tax-free in the subject areas where they are needed most, including physics and maths, and opening new routes into the profession, such as through teacher degree apprenticeships. 鈥淟ast autumn the government delivered on its commitment, giving all new teachers a starting salary of at least 拢30,000. We are also taking steps to support teachers鈥 wellbeing and ease workload pressures, including plans to support schools to reduce working hours by five hours per week.鈥