THE NATIONAL Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has called for those engaged in the secondary sector to urgently look at identifying ways in which more and better part-time working can be accommodated in secondary schools, a new report recommends.

Researchers at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found that secondary teachers who are employed part-time tend to have higher rates of leaving the profession than part-time primary teachers, as well as full-time teachers.

The Teacher Retention and Turnover Research: Interim Report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, also found that primary schools seem to be better able to accommodate part-time employment than secondary schools. There is a considerably higher proportion of part-time teachers in the primary sector compared to secondary schools. This gap persists when comparing teachers by age, gender and the number and age of their children. One in four teachers in the primary sector is part-time compared to about one in seven in the secondary sector.

Additional teachers will be needed to cope with the rising number of secondary school pupils, at a time when retaining teachers is one of the top challenges faced by schools. With workload cited as one of the reasons for teachers leaving the profession, greater flexibility over working patterns may incentivise former teachers to return to work part-time. Part-time opportunities may also encourage current teachers who are at risk of leaving the profession to stay.

NFER Chief Executive, Carole Willis, said of NFER’s findings: “For many teachers, balancing a demanding work environment with a personal life can be challenging. As our report suggests, one solution to this issue is greater flexibility. Identifying ways in which more and better part-time working can be accommodated in secondary schools could help to alleviate teacher supply challenges in England. Offering part-time opportunities to teachers may not only improve work-life balance but also attract back former teachers into the profession.

“We recognise there could be logistical challenges faced by schools in accommodating more part-time teachers, but finding a way to overcome these difficulties may provide a major boost to teacher supply.”

Using data from the School Workforce Census, the report explores factors associated with teacher retention and turnover and offers recommendations for policymakers with an emphasis on retention. It is the latest paper in a programme of major research funded by the Nuffield Foundation to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics within the teaching workforce. Other key findings with recommendations from the report include:

The Government should explore why the rate at which older teachers have been leaving the profession increased between 2010 and 2015 and explore whether they could be incentivised to stay in the profession longer, particularly in subjects with specialist teacher shortages.

Policymakers should look at how policy interventions, such as housing subsidies, could help to retain teachers in high-cost areas.

Josh Hillman, Director of Education at the Nuffield Foundation said: “The shortage of teachers and the fact that they are increasingly likely to leave the profession is one of the most serious problems facing our education system, particularly in a context of rising numbers of pupils. We welcome government plans to offer more financial incentives for teachers in shortage subjects, but this new evidence from NFER shows that non-financial benefits, such as part-time and flexible working are also important for retaining good teachers in our schools.”

This research is already having an influence. NFER’s first working paper of this series reported that some subjects are more affected than others by teachers leaving the profession, with science and modern foreign language (MFL) teachers most likely to leave.

Commenting on the report, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said: “Improving flexible working opportunities in teaching is certainly important in supporting teachers at all stages of their careers to remain the profession. NASUWT research and casework shows that too many teachers are being denied their rights to flexible working. Spurious arguments, feeble excuses and blatant discrimination are being used to turn down requests.

“Even when teachers are granted flexibility, there are countless cases where unfairness and exploitation flourishes, with many teachers still expected to undertake work-related activities on days they are not supposed to be working, invariably without payment.

“However, addressing this discrimination is only one part of the solution to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. Effective action to support flexible working must also go hand in hand with measures to drive down the excessive workload which is affecting all teachers and which is at the heart of why rising numbers are leaving the profession.”