Building a stronger FE college workforce: How improving pay and working conditions can help support FE college teacher supply
18 September 2024
Further education (FE) is key in delivering technical and academic qualification to post-16 students in England but has recently been facing significant challenges, including critical staff shortages in some subject areas.
This mixed-methods research, commissioned by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation investigates some of the key barriers colleges face in recruiting and retaining staff in three subject areas: Construction, Engineering and Digital.
Our research highlights many of the positive aspects associated with teaching in FE colleges, including how it is inherently fulfilling and can provide benefits such as paid holidays or pensions that may be attractive to those in industry. Despite this, our analysis confirmed that recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of high-quality, experienced FE teachers is a significant challenge in all three subject areas.
Pay disparities with industry and schools are one part of this challenge. Prospective FE teachers may be unwilling or unable to take a pay cut to enter FE teaching, while limited opportunities for pay progression can impact retention.
Interviewees also cited high workload, which can feel incommensurate with pay and inappropriately centred on unfulfilling administrative work, as a driver of poor retention. The support colleges offer to new recruits was also viewed as crucial for helping new recruits successfully transition into their new role.
Additional funding from Government to the FE sector would help improve the challenge around pay. Policymakers should also work on developing strategies and resources to help reduce FE teacher workload, similar to what exists for teachers. Crucially, policy work in this area must also be guided by evidence, of which the newly-published FE Workforce Data Collection should be a key part.
Key Findings
- The combination of skills shortages within Construction, Engineering and Digital and the pay differential with both industry and other education roles places FE at a disadvantage for both recruitment and retention.
- The financial responsibilities of younger workers mean they are generally less able to take the pay cut to move from industry into FE, driving an ageing workforce.
- FE salary bands are narrow, limiting opportunities for pay progression – particularly where unqualified teachers are recruited straight from industry at the top of the band to reduce the pay gap.
- Offering higher pay to support recruitment feeds poor retention by creating pay inequalities that lower staff morale.
- FE teachers consider their workload to be excessive and inappropriately centred on unfulfilling administrative work.
- The pressures placed on new recruits with inadequate support drives high turnover in the initial period after entering the FE sector.
- Student behaviour and mental health can be a challenge for retaining new FE teachers, and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic.