Schools across England are in crisis, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded, because of a failure to persuade disenchanted teachers to stay in the profession.

On Wednesday the public accounts committee admonished the education department (DfE) for not foreseeing the shortage of teachers and taking action to avoid it.

By its own admission, the department has given insufficient priority to teacher retention and development.

Meg Hillier, the committee’s chair, said the government has been “sluggish and incoherent” in its response to falling teacher and rising pupil numbers.



“It should have been clear to senior civil servants that growing demand for school places, combined with a drive for schools to make efficiency savings, would only build pressure in the system.



“Instead they seem to have watched on, scratching their heads, as more and more teachers quit the profession.

“Government must get a grip on teacher retention and we expect it to set out a targeted, measurable plan to support struggling schools as a matter of urgency,” she said.

Schools filled about half of vacant posts in 2015-16 with qualified teachers who had the experience and expertise required, according to the report.



The DfE forecasts that secondary school pupil numbers will increase by 540,000 (19.4%) between 2017 and 2025, and that pupil-teacher ratios will continue to rise.

The committee said the government had got the balance wrong by spending £555m a year training new teachers, and just £36m on retaining and developing teachers.



MPs called on the government to end wide variations in the quality of teaching across the country.



The report said that in the Midlands and the north of England more than 20% of pupils were in secondary schools rated as “requires improvement or inadequate for teaching, learning and assessment”.



“The quality of teaching and the level of teaching vacancies vary significantly across the country,” the report said.



“However, the department does not seem to understand the reasons for the variation or the different challenges that schools in different regions face.

“The failure of the department to get to grips with the number of teachers leaving puts additional pressure on schools faced with rising numbers of children needing a school place and the teachers to teach them.”

Angela Rayner said the Conservatives’ cap on public sector pay ‘has left the average teacher over £5,000 worse off’. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

While the overall number of teachers rose by 15,500 between November 2010 and November 2016, the number of teachers in secondary schools dropped by 10,800 in the same period.

The number of teachers leaving the profession for non-retirement reasons increased from 22,260, or 6%, in 2011 to 34,910, or 8.1%, in 2016.



The committee said pressure of workload was a big factor, as well as living costs.

The report called on the government to look at whether funded initiatives could help teachers with housing costs in areas where property is expensive.



Commenting on the report, Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, blamed the Conservatives for presiding over the crisis.

“Their cap on public sector pay has left the average teacher over £5,000 worse off and makes it impossible for many schools to retain the staff that they need,” she said.

A DfE spokeswoman said there are now a record number of teachers in schools, while 32,000 trainee teachers have been recruited.

“Retention rates have been broadly stable for the past 20 years, and the teaching profession continues to be an attractive career.

“We are consulting on proposals to improve and increase development opportunities for teachers across the country and working with teachers, unions and Ofsted to tackle unnecessary workload,” she said.