Pressure in the system

The growing crisis in the teaching profession in England is well-documented. A report from the House of Commons Education Committee (2017), published earlier this year, acknowledged the shortage of teachers in a number of subjects and geographical areas, the difficulty in recruiting new teachers and the problems caused by the continuing exodus both of older teachers taking early retirement and younger teachers. Around 30% of new teachers leave the profession within five years of qualifying. The government is consistently failing to meet its recruitment and retention targets and this is putting increasing pressure on schools.