Education Workforce Council

Policy briefing: Teacher recruitment and retention in Wales - 14 October 2020

On 14 October 2020, we held a policy briefing on teacher recruitment and retention. Building on our 2017 policy briefing, this year’s event presented the most up-to-date picture of the situation in Wales.

Hosted alongside the Welsh Government, the briefing brought together over 160 stakeholders in education to explore themes arising from comprehensive data analyses and research.

After an opening address from Kirsty Williams MS, we began the session by looking at the key findings of our analysis of data across a range of areas. We looked at themes like the Welsh language, leadership, induction and recruitment to ITE programmes.

Attendees then heard about emerging trends in teacher recruitment and retention across the UK and globally, and some of the strategies used to address these.

The final round of presentations looked at the latest plans to address recruitment and retention issues. This included a presentation from Dr Hazel Hagger, chair of the EWC's ITE Accreditation Board, who focused on the Welsh approach to ITE. Attendees were then told about a new website due to launch in spring 2021 and an advocacy service, already up and running, all part of a national campaign to promote careers in the registered education professions.

To end the session, attendees had an opportunity to ask their burning questions to a panel of experts, which included EWC Chief Executive, Hayden Llewellyn. He was joined by Kevin Palmer (Deputy Director of Pedagogy, Leadership and Professional Learning, Welsh Government), Dr Hazel Hagger, Elaine Sharpling (Director of Teacher Education), Huw Powell (Headteacher, Mary Immaculate High School), Matthew Evans (Headteacher, Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf).

Downloads

Policy briefing 2020: PowerPoint (bilingual)

Policy briefing 2020: PDF (bilingual)

Leadership matters - 14 December 2017

We held our second policy briefing of 2017 on Thursday 14 December at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. This analysis drew on unique data from the Register to examine recent trends in headteacher/leader recruitment, retention and career progression in Wales

For more information on the event, download our infographic depicting the statistics or the full slides from our presentation.

Is there a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Wales - 18 May 2017

In May 2017, we held a policy briefing on data relating to the recruitment, retention and career progression of school teachers in Wales. The event was for all stakeholders with an interest in education policy and teacher recruitment and retention. It drew on unique data from the register gathered over 10 years to reveal what’s happening in teacher recruitment, retention and career progression in Wales.

For more information on our findings download the slides from the presentation.