Seven in 10 FE staff have considered leaving the sector, according to a new poll by the NEU teaching union.

Eighty per cent of staff who took part in the survey said their workload had increased in the past year, with almost two-thirds saying this was down to a reduction in the number of staff in their colleges. Around a third of respondents said they now had more hours or new courses to teach, while around the same proportion said they were being asked to teach new subject areas.

The survey, completed by more than 220 NEU members, also revealed that half of staff in FE work over seven hours on top of what they are contracted to do, with the vast majority (88 per cent) blaming additional workload for the extra hours. Over a third of staff said they felt it was expected of them to work additional hours.

Rising stress

As a result of these pressures, almost four in 10 FE staff have discussed stress with a health professional while working in the FE sector, while 12 per cent have been signed off with stress and another 16 per cent believe they are suffering with stress, but haven’t sought professional help.

Job security, working conditions and pay are the most important areas of concern for FE staff, according to the NEU survey.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said it was not surprising that so many FE staff had considered leaving: “They have faced huge turmoil in the sector, with the area reviews, and are suffering from chronic overwork and under-pay.”

She added: “For too long FE colleges have been the poor relatives in education, paid little attention by government and starved of funding. This cannot continue. The government needs to recognise the vital role FE colleges play in developing a skilled workforce, educating 62 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds and adults who are upskilling and reskilling.”

The NEU is running an “EfFEctive Education” project to help FE staff achieve sustainable workloads and to campaign for better funding for the sector.

Valuable insights

Skills minister Anne Milton said the further education sector was “a hugely important part of our education system, even more so as we roll out our new T levels”.

She added: “We are improving the data we hold on FE staff, including our College Staff Survey, to help us understand how teachers move into and out of the sector and provide valuable new insights into the workforce. We have protected the base rate of funding for all 16-19 year old students until 2020 and alongside this are providing an additional £20 million over the next two years to prepare for the introduction of T levels. 

“We are also working with the FE sector to introduce new development programmes for teachers and leaders and spending £5 million to recruit up to 150 industry experts to retrain as FE teachers. Finally, to help colleges improve we have also announced a new £15 million scheme to help underperforming colleges.”