Large multi-academy trusts (MATs) have the highest teacher turnover compared with other school groups, finds analysis published today.
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has produced a report that examines which types of school groups are most successful and why.
The report draws on findings from both the EPI’s interactive tool measuring academy trust performance and from a major survey of senior leaders.
EPI researchers have developed a suite of metrics to measure school performance across pupil attainment, inclusion, workforce and finances to allow the sector to compare the effectiveness of school groups.
Here are eight key findings from the EPI’s work:
1. MATs have highest teacher turnover
In secondary, the median MAT has an annual classroom teacher turnover rate of 16.9 per cent and cumulative turnover of 37.4 per cent, according to the EPI report.
The analysis looked at the number of staff exiting a group as a percentage of the total number of staff in the group.
Larger MATs, in particular, were found to have an annual teacher turnover of 19.5 per cent at secondary. Small MATs with fewer than five secondary schools had an annual turnover of 15.9 per cent. Federations also had higher rates of staff turnover, on average.
This is compared with an annual rate of 14.4 per cent for local authority schools and a cumulative turnover of 32.7 per cent.
High teacher turnover was associated with lower overall attainment at secondary, the analysis states, though had no correlation with the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
Confederation of School Trusts chief executive Leora Cruddas said it is not clear how the data deals with movements of schools within trusts or staff who work across trusts.
Ms Cruddas added “there are many other factors” that may account for higher teacher turnover in Trusts.
She said: “For example, in London - which has one of the lowest proportions of academies - secondary schools have an annual teacher turnover rate 4.7 percentage points higher turnover than in coastal schools.
“It does not immediately follow that those schools are doing something wrong, rather that we need to understand the full range of motivations for teachers changing roles.”
EPI explained that its metrics treat academy trusts as one large school, so teachers moving between schools within a trust do not count towards turnover figures.
Schools that have left trusts are not included in turnover figures, and schools are not counted towards any measures for a trust unless it has been with the trust for three years.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the findings highlighted the urgency of the recruitment and retention crisis in schools.
“The EPI highlights that this problem is even greater within MATs, which is yet further evidence that the obsession with forcing schools into trusts has nothing to do with what is best for education,” he added.
Metrics were constructed using data from the three school years before the pandemic - 2016-17 to 2018-19. This data was then combined with a survey of senior leaders across school groups, which has been carried out over the past two years.
2. No optimal school group identified
The EPI says: “This report shows there is no identifiable general optimal organisational structure for school groups. We cannot conclude that, based on performance alone, the MAT structure should be preferred to the local authority model, or vice versa.”
The analysis finds that there are often larger differences between two different MATs than between the average MAT and the average local authority.
Louis Hodge, associate director for school system and performance at EPI, said: ”Our understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of different groups has, to date, been patchy and inconclusive.”
3. Higher-attaining school groups have fewer disadvantaged pupils
The EPI report finds that school groups with the highest overall attainment receive a lower proportion of applications from disadvantaged pupils, and have lower rates of absence and suspension.
Larger MATs with 10 or more schools tend to have higher rates of persistent absence, suspension and unexplained exits than their smaller counterparts and local authorities.
However, they tend to admit a higher rate of disadvantaged pupils and return better attainment outcomes for those pupils.
4. Accountability system should be reviewed
EPI recommends that the accountability and inspection system be reviewed to better take into account different pupil demographics and circumstances.
The researchers say that schools that admit representative proportions of disadvantaged pupils or pupils with special educational needs should not be penalised under a new system.
“The current system tends to penalise schools with higher numbers of disadvantaged children and those with additional needs,” said Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.
The NEU’s Mr Kebede also added that the current system is “largely indifferent” to different demographics between schools.
5. Disadvantaged pupils are underrepresented at diocesan schools
Primary school groups with a link to a diocese tend to have pupil intakes that are less representative of their local area, the report says.
The report states that the admission practices of dioceses drive much of the relationship seen between high-attaining school groups and a lower proportion of disadvantaged pupil applicants.
Diocese school groups, on average, have lower levels of persistent absence and higher attainment.
The EPI calls for the school admissions code to be reviewed with more of a focus on inclusion - it has previously called for groups to be judged on how inclusive they are. The review should particularly consider why certain groups are less likely to reflect the number of low-income background pupils in their local area.
”For all groups, the chances of a disadvantaged pupil being admitted are smaller than that of a non-disadvantaged pupil, given they both apply to the school,” the report states.
6. MATs have better in-year balances
The report finds that MATs tend to be doing slightly better financially, on average, than other group types. At primary, MATs were twice as likely to have positive in-year balances than other school groups.
They were three times as likely to have a positive in-year balance at secondary - though balances were relatively smaller.
Nearly half of the MATs in the survey say they have used reserves from one school to aid others in the group.
Dioceses tend to have the highest proportions of self-generated income. This refers to activities like hiring out facilities, donations and private funds.
EPI researchers cautioned that the method used for measuring the financial efficiency of a school group makes it impossible to reliably compare trusts and local authorities on this metric.
7. Small MATs have highest KS2 and KS4 attainment
On average, small MATs tend to outperform other MATs in terms of both key stage 2 and key stage 4 attainment and attendance, and have lower suspensions.
However, they do not perform as well as larger MATs at progressing attainment for disadvantaged pupils in secondary, the report finds.
Small primary MATs are more efficient than their larger counterparts, with a higher proportion of self-generated income, but smaller in-year balances, the report says. At secondary, they still have higher self-generated income proportions but tend to be less efficient.
At primary, medium MATs tended to have the lowest teacher turnover rate compared with other trusts.
8. DfE should publish school group measures
EPI researchers created a metric to measure school group efficiency. The measure takes into account teacher experience, leadership, spending on support staff and back office functions to produce a score for how efficiently resources are deployed.
Higher efficiency was associated with higher attainment, though also with higher levels of teacher turnover.
The EPI recommend that the Department for Education should publish metrics for school groups, like its trust quality descriptors - which are used to make decisions over trusts taking on schools - to allow the sector to gain a more informed understanding of group performance and inclusion.
A DfE spokesperson said: “As the report highlights, there are also positive drivers to teacher turnover. Many teachers leave their current roles due to promotion and move between schools within the same trust.”
The DfE added that it has reformed teacher training and development to increase recruitment and retention.
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