The proportion of college staff who are teachers has dropped in the past five years, the latest workforce data reveals.

According to the latest Further Education and Workforce Data for England report by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which reflects the 2018-19 staff individualised record (SIR) returns, there has been a change in the balance of teaching staff and learner-facing technical and support staff between 2013-14 (SIR 22) and 2018-19 (SIR 27).

“While the median number of total employees at colleges rose between SIR 22 and SIR 27, the median number of teaching staff fell from 250 to 231. The biggest (absolute) changes in median headcount numbers were seen in learner-facing technical staff (which increased from 60 to 89) and support staff (which increased from 76 to 102). The median number of senior managers increased from 10 to 11 between SIR 22 and SIR 27.”

Colleges: FE workforce: Teacher pay down, gender pay gap up

Long read: The biggest college groups in the UK

Background: College teacher pay continues to drop

Changes in the FE workforce

Today’s report is based on 91,800 records with data submitted by 186 providers, including colleges, independent training providers, local authorities and others.

It highlights changes in college size and staffing structures, but also trends in pay.

Here are some of the main findings from this year’s report:

• The size of colleges measured by employee headcount has grown in the past five years. “All college types have increased in size over time, most notably specialist designated colleges and agriculture and horticulture colleges, which have increased their median employee size by about 60 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.”
• Providers are offering more subjects, except in the humanities. For example, whereas 74 per cent of providers which submitted data in 2013-14 had at least one staff contract with its subject specified as ICT, in 2018-19 this increased to 83 per cent. In contrast, the proportion of providers offering humanities fell from 73 per cent to 58 per cent.
• The workforce remains predominantly female. Sixty-one per cent of all staff were female in both 2013-14 and 2018-19.
• The proportion of women in senior management roles reduced from 58 per cent to 54 per cent.
• A lower proportion of staff are working part-time, particularly male staff. For teaching staff overall, the proportion has fallen from 50 per cent to 46 per cent in five years.
• Although the median age of all staff and teaching staff has not changed substantially over time, there has been an increase in the proportion of older staff, with the percentage of all staff aged 60 and over rising from 10 per cent in 2013-14 to 14 per cent in 2018-19.
• The proportion of zero-hours contracts remained similar to that last year at just over 4 per cent.
• Median pay has decreased from £32,500 in 2012-13 to £32,300 in 2018-19. When colleges only are considered, the story is similar. Median teacher pay has risen in Greater London, the Midlands and East and the South, but fallen in the North.
• The gender pay gap for all staff working in colleges is similar in this year’s report to that identified in 2012-13 at just over 10 per cent.