Number of teachers in England’s state schools drops for second year in row | Schools

The number of teachers working in England’s state schools has shrunk for the second year in a row, even as the government said it was meeting its promises to increase recruitment where needed.

The annual school workforce census shows there are 466,300 teachers in state schools this year, a fall of more than 1,900 since last year due to declining numbers in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

But the Department for Education said the government was meeting its manifesto pledge to employ 6,500 additional teachers over the current parliament, with more special needs and pupil referral unit teachers, as well as further education teachers for students up to 18 years old.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said: “We’re making real progress where it’s needed most: over two-thirds of our pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers has already been met, fewer teachers are leaving the profession than at any point on record, and more are choosing to build long, rewarding careers in teaching.”

However the DfE’s figures showed the fewest entrants to the profession for at least 15 years, with 41,000 new and former teachers joining state schools this year compared with 51,000 a decade ago.

Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said the overall fall in teacher numbers was “making a mockery of the government’s promise of 6,500 extra teachers”, with the DfE’s figures showing the number of newly qualified recruits at its lowest since records began 30 years ago.

Kebede said: “The government stands at a crossroads on education. Falling pupil numbers mean there is an opportunity to drastically improve children’s opportunities by increasing school staffing levels and reducing class sizes, as the previous Labour government did 25 years ago.”

Labour’s 2024 manifesto included a pledge to “recruit 6,500 new teachers in key subjects to set children up for life, work and the future, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools”.

The DfE argued it had added 4,600 teachers compared with its 2023 baseline excluding primary teachers. It said there had been a net increase of 1,000 secondary teachers and about 2,000 special needs and pupil referral unit teachers. The DfE also counted an additional 1,600 further education teachers, although official figures have not yet been published.

Jack Worth, education workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research, said the DfE was including 2,300 additional teachers recorded in November 2024, only a few months after Labour took power, making it “highly unlikely that its policies could have had a meaningful impact on those figures”.

Worth said: “Sustained progress will be essential to reverse the damage that previous undersupply has caused to the extent of specialist teaching in shortage secondary [school] subjects, and particularly in schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. One in six maths lessons in years 7 to 9 are still taught by non-specialist teachers.”

The school census also reveals the number of pupils on free school meals has risen by a further 45,000 to more than 2.2 million, meaning 26.5% of all pupils are known to receive them. The north-east of England remains the worst affected, with one in three of all pupils eligible, while 31% are eligible in the West Midlands. In the east and south-east of England the rate is 21%.