In this Teaching Career Statistics post you will learn about:
- how many teachers there are working in the uk
- number of teachers entering and leaving the profession
- the pupil teacher ratio
- average pay for teachers at various levels
- the size of teacher’s workloads
- hours teachers spend on professional development
- what qualifications teachers hold
- how many vacancies there are for teaching positions
- possible ways to retain teachers
Teaching Career Statistics: Workforce
1. There were 453,813 Teachers in the UK in 2019. (an increase of 2.7% from 441,335 in 2010/11) (School Workforce in England Report)
2. 23,064 of these were newly qualified teachers in state funded schools in 2019. (School Workforce in England Report)
3. 39,675 qualified teachers left the teaching profession in state-funded schools in 2019. (School Workforce in England Report)
4. Of these, 33,645 were taking a break or leaving the profession, with another 5,979 retiring. (School Workforce in England Report)
5. This constitutes 9% of the workforce leaving every year (roughly the same level it has been at for the last few years) (School Workforce in England Report)
6. In state-funded primary schools, the Pupil Teacher Ratio has remained at 20.9 in both 2018 and 2019. This has increased from 17.8 in 2011. (School Workforce in England Report)
Thinking about becoming a Teacher but still not sure? if so, check out my post: Pros And Cons Of Being A Teacher UK: A Comprehensive Guide
7. In state-funded secondary schools, the Pupil Teacher Ratio has risen from 16.3 in 2018 to 16.6 in 2019. (School Workforce in England Report)
8. In 2019, a third of all teachers were in their 30’s. 5.2% were under 25 and 2.6% were over 60. (School Workforce in England Report)
9. Male teachers made up 24% of all Teachers in 2019. (33% of all Head teachers were male) (School Workforce in England Report)
10. 14.3% of all teachers described themselves as being from a minority ethnic group. (School Workforce in England Report)
Teaching Career Statistics: Pay
11. In 2019, the average FTE salary of all teachers in state-funded schools was £40,537 per year. This increased by over £1,000 compared to 2018. (School Workforce in England Report)
12. The average FTE salary for all full and part-time classroom teachers in all state funded schools was £37,192. (School Workforce in England Report)
13. The average salary for leadership teachers (excluding head teachers) in 2019 was higher at £54,911. (School Workforce in England Report)
14. The average salary for a head teacher was £71,655 in 2019. (School Workforce in England Report)
15. Average salaries are higher for male teachers across all grades:
For male classroom teachers – Male: £37,885, Female: £36,985. (School Workforce in England Report)
For head teachers: Male: £77,362, Female: £68,870 (School Workforce in England Report)
16. In September 2019, the UK Government said they would raise the starting salary for newly-qualified teachers outside London to £30,000 by 2022. (David Foster)
17. The current starting point on the classroom teacher main pay scale is £24,373 (David Foster)
Do you know how much graduates earn in the UK? To find out check out my Graduate Salaries UK Infographic
Teaching Career Statistics: Workload
18. In a Department of Education survey of 7,287 UK teachers on their workload, working hours of teachers had reduced from 54 hours in 2016 to 50 hours in 2019. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
19. The study found that primary teachers worked longer hours than their secondary school colleagues. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
20. Primary teachers and middle leaders reported working an average of 12.5 hours during weekends, evenings and out-of-school hours. The average for secondary schools was 13.1. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
21. Senior leaders reported working an average of 55.1 hours in 2019. This has fallen from the 60.5 hours reported in 2016. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
22. Those surveyed said they could not complete their workloads within their contracted hours, and that they could not achieve a good work-life balance. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
23. Only 29% felt they had an ‘acceptable workload’, while 30% said they achieve a good work life balance. (Teacher Workload Survey 2019)
24. Teachers in England are working, on average, 19% longer hours than in most other jurisdictions. (Peter Sellen)
25. Only Japan and Alberta, Canada reported longer average working hours than teachers in England. (Peter Sellen)
26. 49% of full time teachers in England work between 40 and 58 hours, with a fifth of teachers working 60 hours or more. (Peter Sellen)
Are you unsure about which career path to follow? You have a vague idea what you might want to do, but are not really sure?
If so, check out my free online course on ‘How to Find Your Perfect Career’. It is 5 tried and tested exercises that I’ve used to take me from jobs I hated in my 20’s to a job I LOVE now!
Teaching Career Statistics: Professional Development
27. Of the 36 jurisdictions analysed, England ranked 30th in terms of the average number of days spent every year on professional development. (Peter Sellen)
28. Teachers in England spent an average of 4 days on courses, observational visits, seminars and in-service training, compared with an average of 10.5 days. (Peter Sellen)
29. Shanghai was one of the highest in terms of continuous professional development. (Peter Sellen)
30. Teachers there spend an average of 40 days in the year on various forms of CPD. (Peter Sellen)
31. This is ten times more than their English counterparts. (Peter Sellen)
32. The time that teachers in England spend teaching lessons is around the average. (Peter Sellen)
33. However, it is time spent planning lessons, writing assessments, and marking that is driving long working hours in England. (Peter Sellen)
34. Teachers working in ‘outstanding schools’ (defined by Ofsted) tend to work the same number of hours as teachers in other schools. However they are less likely to report their workload as ‘unmanageable’ compared to teachers in other schools. (Peter Sellen)
35. Teachers in the most deprived schools work an average of 3.6 hours less per week than teachers in the wealthier schools. (Peter Sellen)
Teaching Career Statistics: Qualifications
36. 98.8% of teacher hold qualifications at degree level or higher. (School Workforce in England Report)
37. Only 4% of Teachers in the UK held a non-UK qualification. (School Workforce in England Report)
38. In some subjects, more than two thirds of teachers have a degree-level qualification or higher, e.g. Biology (79 per cent), Art (78 per cent), PE (68 per cent), English (68 per cent) and History (67 per cent). (School Workforce in England Report)
39. However, in other subjects only half or less have degree-level qualification, e.g. German (55 per cent), French (53 per cent), Physics (51 per cent), Maths (46 per cent) and Spanish (35 per cent). (School Workforce in England Report)
Ever wonder how long it takes to become fully qualified in the various professions? If so, check out my post on ‘How Long Does It Take To Qualify…
Teacher Career Statistics: Retention
40. Of the Teachers who qualified in 2014, 86% of them were still working as a teacher after one year. (David Foster)
41. This dropped to 67% who were still working as a teacher after five years. (David Foster)
42. Teacher retention rates improve with age and experience. (David Foster)
43. They are also higher outside London and in schools rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. (David Foster)
44. Workload, government policy and lack of support from school leadership were given as the three main reasons for leaving in a survey of ex-teachers (Analysis of school and teacher level factors relating to teacher supply)
45. There were 1,000 Teacher vacancies in 2019, this has more than doubled since 2010. (School Workforce in England Report)
46. Of the teachers who took sick leave, the average number of days they took was 7 days in 2019. (School Workforce in England Report)
47. While 18,500 teachers increased their working hours, 25,300 (5%) decreased their hours. (School Workforce in England Report)
Teacher Career Statistics: Outlook
48. In the next ten years, the overall number of pupils is expected to grow by 11 per cent, with secondary schools growing at 20% and primary schools 4%
49. With the number of teachers exiting the profession at 8-9% every year this will mean an even bigger shortfall of teachers (epi)
50. There is solid evidence from the US that targeted financial incentives have improved retention in North Carolina and Florida.
51. A Gatsby Foundation report argued that targeted salary supplements of 5% for early-career physics teachers would have eliminated the shortage of physics teachers seen in recent years. (epi)
If you found the above Teacher Career Statistics post helpful and want more, check out the advice of 100 graduates 10 years out of university in my book ‘1000 Years of Career Advice’.
You can get the free ebook version here.
