The relatively large gap between teacher staffing levels in “disadvantaged” UK schools and those in more affluent areas has been highlighted in an international study.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) of 15-year-olds attended schools where leaders said teacher shortages were causing problems, according to the latest findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).

This is slightly higher than the average of 27 per cent for Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries included in the Pisa study, which is based on 2018 data.

But, in the UK, the shortages were a “much bigger issue in disadvantaged schools”, said Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which runs Pisa.

The disadvantage gap in school staffing levels

The study scored each country to show the size of its gap between teacher shortages in “disadvantaged” schools and those in more advantaged schools. The UK’s gap was calculated at a “fairly high” 0.59, compared with an OECD average of just 0.39.

Miyako Ikeda, the author of the UK report, explained: ”[This] is a fairly wide gap as it’s over half the standard deviation, and the UK’s socioeconomic gap is wider than the OECD average gap (0.39).”

The findings show an improvement from the previous Pisa study in 2015, when 43 per cent of students attended schools with teacher shortages.

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However, slightly more school leaders reported a shortage of teaching assistants than last time, with 21 per cent of students attending schools where that was a problem, up from 19 per cent in 2015.

Fewer school leaders reported problems with inadequate or poorly qualified teaching or assisting staff. In 2018, 9 per cent and 8 per cent of students respectively attended schools where staff qualifications were a problem, down from 20 and 12 per cent in 2015.

Natalie Perera, executive director of the Education Policy Institute thinktank, told Tes that Pisa’s finding of an overall reduction of staff shortages did not reflect the reality on the ground, and highlighted the gap between the proportion of disadvantaged schools reporting a lack of teaching staff compared with non-disadvantaged schools. 

She said: “I am not clear what’s causing a lower overall reporting in 2018. It doesn’t reflect the domestic patterns that we are seeing, where we have seen that the government has consistently missed its own recruitment targets into teaching.

“But there is a parallel in the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged schools. We know from our own research that it’s harder for schools to recruit teachers, particularly those in shortage subjects, such as maths and physics, into schools in more disadvantaged areas.

“EPI research found that in the most disadvantaged schools outside of London only about 17 per cent of physics teachers had a relevant degree, and only about 20 per cent of maths teachers had a relevant degree. We know in England disadvantaged schools find it far more difficult to recruit teachers particularly in those shortage subjects.” 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed that teacher recruitment and retention challenges continued to be a problem.

He said: “Teacher shortages have been a debilitating feature of our education system for a number of years and this continues to be the case. There will have obviously been fluctuations in supply at different points in time, but the general picture has been bleak. Government targets for recruiting trainee teachers have been missed over a number of years, and too many teachers leave the profession early in their careers.”

This was echoed by NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted, who pointed to worsening teacher-to-pupil ratios, which she said could pose challenges during the pandemic.

Dr Bousted said: “It is good that a majority of school leaders feel they have sufficient teachers for their needs. It’s important to highlight, however, that this is not the same as saying that teacher numbers have improved.

“We know for instance that over a quarter (26.8 per cent) leave the profession within three years - a figure that has got worse every year since 2011. This has also led to a worsening of teacher-pupil ratios, something which the pandemic is throwing into sharp relief.

“With almost 1 million children in classes of 31-plus even before Covid struck, we know that we need smaller classes and more teachers if we are to avoid huge disruption to pupils’ learning because of isolation.”

According to Mr Schleicher, the key to attracting and retaining teachers may lie in a shift in work culture.

He said: “The hallmark of the highest-performing education systems is that teachers are very much engaged in the design of pedagogical practice, of curriculum.

“I don’t think [in England] it’s primarily an issue of money or salaries, it’s more of an issue of how you create a more attractive environment for teachers to work. You have a very high teaching load and a very low share of time spent on other kinds of important activities in education: such as working with individual students out of the classroom, working with your colleagues, being able to be involved in the design of pedagogical practice.

“It’s a very industrial work environment where teachers are implementing but not so much designing instructional practice.” 

The DfE was contacted for comment.