Of all the major discussion points around teaching over the last few years, retention and recruitment are the issues which keep being raised, debated, and pondered. How do we recruit new high-quality teachers, whilst also making sure we retain those highly experienced practitioners who have a wealth of experience?
One of the many solutions which tends to be put forward is centred around pay increases and how this can be used to attract new teachers. In terms of retention, ideas centre around additional training, routes into leadership and/or management and some form of remission which allows practitioners to continue to develop. These ideas remain much debated, but little significant movement has been seen on any resolution.
However, as Covid has shown, teaching is as much influenced by events external to education as any other sector. With this in mind, and with retention and recruitment continually reported to be at crisis levels, how will the rise in the cost-of-living impact teachers, leaders, and education in general?
One of the biggest rises to the cost of living has been in fuel costs, with petrol rising by 12.6p per litre between February and March (the largest rise since records began in 1990). Clearly, this will hit the majority of those working in schools (as well as those completing the school run), but what of the knock-on effect over the coming months? With rural schools and educational settings often struggling to recruit, further issues may also be seen as the cost to prospective future teachers to even get to work increases.
As it has for many household bills, the cost of gas, electricity and water has also gone up. From 1st April, roughly 18 million households saw their bill increase by £693 (on average). Much publicised as this has been, there has been less discussion about how this will impact schools, colleges, and other educational settings. With many colleges (specifically those in the inner city) based across several large sites, even a marginal increase to gas and electricity is likely to have a massive impact on budgets, which will then directly impact class sizes, availability of resources and, ultimately, likely the standard of education.
With food industry leaders also predicting a potential 15% rise in food prices over the next year, this will also hit colleges hard. With so many colleges training the future staff, employees and leaders in hospitality and catering, even fully resourcing a college course with the food required may be difficult. This is all without mentioning the huge increase this would represent in the cost of free school meals and breakfast clubs to all educational settings across the country.
Added to this, with many Further Education colleges having on-campus workshops and real working environments (and requiring the resources and materials to keep these environments running), colleges are likely to be hit hardest by the rise in the cost of living.
So, how will schools and colleges cope? The likely answer is ‘with difficulty’. The impact of large rises in costs to most bills will likely mean that cuts in other areas will be necessary. This will likely mean that leaders will be forced to increase class sizes, cut staffing numbers, and hold off on any updating or modernisation. This will also likely include delaying renovation to existing sites, buildings or delivery spaces – something which the majority of settings are in need of with larger class sizes on the horizon, and ever bigger students meaning some classrooms resemble ‘the land of the giants’.
What is clear, is that schools and (particularly) colleges are likely unable to provide a pay rise to staff (whether teachers or leaders) without a significant increase to funding. Though the impact is already being felt, there are concerns that this may exacerbate staff recruitment issues and see additional challenges in retaining experienced staff. With the previous exam cycles offering the workload and strain associated with the TAG and CAG process, many are looking to the private sector or turning to tutoring and/or supply.
Without significant investment or government support, this trend may well continue which would provide additional shortages and may mean that class sizes continue to increase, worsening a problem which parents and carers have flagged for several years.
About the author
Jonathan Kay
Jonny Kay is Head of Teaching, Learning and Assessment at a college in the North East. He has previously worked as Head of English and maths in FE and as an English teacher and Head of English in Secondary schools. He tweets @jonnykayteacher and his book, 'Improving Maths and English in Further Education: A Practical Guide', is available now.