There was a 4.9% fall (10,800 staff) in the numbers of secondary school teachers, it said. A survey by the NAO found 85% of secondary school leaders did not think they had been given enough support by the government to retain high-quality teachers, while 67% said teachers’ workload was still a barrier to keeping people in the profession. The watchdog concludes: “Having enough high-quality teachers in the right places is crucial to securing value for money for the £21bn that schools spend on their teaching workforce. These indicators, however, mask significant variation between schools and concerning trends, especially in secondary schools. “We recognise there are challenges facing schools and we are taking significant steps to address them,” she said.

Source: The Guardian September 11, 2017 22:52 UTC