Researchers are to investigate whether introducing a nine-day fortnight can improve teacher recruitment and retention.

The study will be part of three new research projects launched by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to “find solutions to the recruitment and retention crisis” amid spiralling teacher supply problems.

The announcement comes after Dixons Academies Trust, which has 17 schools across Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West, moved to a nine-day working fortnight earlier this month. 

The project, led by teacher training charity Ambition Institute, will work with Dixons and include interviews with leaders and teachers.

Teacher retention solutions

The EEF will also look at the impact of encouraging teachers’ planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time to be carried out off-site. This project will be led by researchers from the Institute of Education, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, and the Chartered College of Teaching.

Bridget Phillipson, the new Labour government’s education secretary, said last term that the Department for Education would clarify the position on PPA time to make it clear to schools that teachers can spend this time at home.

The EEF said that off-site PPA is “often one of the most straightforward ways for schools to enable a more supportive working environment for teachers”. This study aims to build an evidence base for this approach and its potential impact on teacher retention.

A third project led by Teacher Tapp will use its app to identify strategies that are most likely to be effective in attracting teachers to schools with high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage.  

Approaches must be ‘built on evidence’

Commenting on the projects, Emily Yeomans, co-chief executive at the EEF, said “There is no denying that recruitment and retention is one of the biggest issues currently facing the English school system.

“Until we have solid approaches to address recruitment and retention, built on evidence, we will continue to see great teachers leaving the profession and young people’s education suffering as a result.”

She added that the country “cannot hope to close the attainment gap without addressing the recruitment and retention crisis, too”.

The initial results of the research will be produced next year.