Secondary schools serving the most deprived areas have lost more teaching staff and have had to spend more than twice as much on supply teachers than those in the most affluent areas, new workforce data reveals.
The data also shows that schools - both primary and secondary - with a high proportion of pupils who receive free school meals (FSM) have a higher teacher leaving rate and vacancy rate compared with schools with a lower proportion.
These findings are revealed today in the new National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) data dashboard, which aims to offer insights into local and national teacher workforce challenges.
The dashboard gives a breakdown of teacher workforce data for the primary and secondary phases from 2015 through to 2020.
The information is broken down by government region, local authority, parliamentary constituency, school type and academic subject.
The dashboard also breaks down figures for schools by quintile group ranked on deprivation - how many pupils on FSM they have.
The impact of disadvantage on schools
The NFER’s latest data for 2020 reveals that the expenditure on supply teaching per secondary school student varied depending on the proportion of students on FSM in schools.
In secondary schools with the lowest proportion of students on FSM an average of £57.70 was spent per pupil in 2020, compared with more than double that (£126.70) in schools with the highest proportion of students on FSM.
There was also a correlation in primary schools with £88.10 being spent in schools with the lowest proportion of FSM pupils compared with £128.30 in schools with the highest proportion.
The new interactive tool also shows that children in schools with a high proportion of FSM pupils are more likely to be taught maths and science by teachers who do not have a relevant undergraduate degree.
The most recent 2020 data also shows a link between the teacher attrition rate in schools and the proportion of pupils on FSM.
In secondary schools with the lowest proportion of FSM, the rate of teachers leaving the state sector was 7.1 per cent compared with 9.5 per cent of teachers in secondaries with the highest proportion of FSM.
And the rate of secondary teachers leaving their school was also higher in areas of high deprivation: 17 per cent compared with 11.1 per cent at schools with the lowest proportion of pupils on FSM.
This correlation could also be seen in primary schools in 2020 but the differences in percentages were not as striking.
Data shows 11.2 per cent of teachers leaving their primary in schools with the lowest proportion of FSM pupils compared with 13.5 per cent in primaries with the highest proportion of FSM.
More teachers leaving schools in deprived areas
The NFER dashboard also shows that schools with the highest proportion of pupils on FSM had more vacancies.
The proportion of secondary vacancies and temporarily filled posts per teacher in areas with a high proportion of FSM pupils was 1 per cent, double that in the areas with the lowest proportion of pupils on FSM (0.5 per cent).
The new analysis reveals a small difference in teacher retention between schools in Education Investment Areas (EIAs) and other areas.
EIAs have been created by the government, having been identified as educationally underperforming, and prioritised for extra funding and intervention.
The rate of secondary early career teachers leaving the state sector in 2020 was 11.5 per cent in EIAs, compared with 12.3 per cent in non-EIAs.
Jack Worth, NFER school workforce lead, said the data dashboard will “support local and national decision-makers to take action to address teacher shortages in areas struggling the most”.
“This initiative is part of our continuing commitment to supporting policymakers in developing robust plans which improve teacher recruitment and retention.”
And Dr Emily Tanner, education programme head at the Nuffield Foundation, said the dashboard provides ”key insights into the teacher workforce, showing how the quality of education that students receive varies according to where they live and the type of school they attend”.
“Widening access to this data is an important step in achieving positive change,” she said.
Commenting on the new interactive dashboard, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “Too few graduates are choosing to train to be a teacher and too many teachers are choosing to leave the profession. This has created serious staffing gaps for schools right now, but it will also undermine the quality of education for the next generation.”
Mr Courtney said that the government “must address the recruitment and retention crisis in teaching”.
“Schools with higher levels of deprivation are much more likely to be given a low Ofsted rating and this is driving teachers away from those schools and from the profession generally,” he added.
