Schools across England say they are being forced to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant to avoid going into deficit, in a serious blow to the new government’s plans to improve education.
Labour swept into government in July with a central promise to tackle the crisis in schools by recruiting 6,500 teachers. But unions have told the Observer that schools have already started making teachers redundant to balance their books, arguing that after more than a decade of funding cuts under the Tories there remain no less painful efficiencies to be made.
They warn that if the government presses ahead with a plan not to cover next year’s teachers’ pay rise with extra funds, more teachers will lose their jobs across the country.
Data released before Christmas showed that the government had seen a fall in people entering primary teacher training and missed its recruitment target for secondary education by nearly 40%.
Meanwhile, the government is trying to tackle a growing retention crisis, with one in four new teachers lasting less than three years. Last year’s school census data showed that for the first time in 2023 nearly as many teachers left the profession in England as entered it.
Headteachers fear the situation may deteriorate further depending on the size of next year’s pay rise and how it is funded. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote to the School Teachers’ Review Body in December to say a 2.8% rise “would be appropriate” after a rise of 5.5% this year.
The National Education Union has called for a bigger increase, arguing that a rise roughly in line with inflation would lead to more teachers leaving the profession.
But headteachers and the NEU fear that, regardless of the final amount, the pay rise could lead to job cuts if the government demands schools fund it through their existing budgets.
A new survey of nearly 90 primary schools in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, shared with the Observer, found that more than half planned to make teachers redundant.
Nearly 70% planned to cut support staff, despite many also saying they did not have enough teaching assistants to give rising numbers of children with often complex special educational needs the one-to-one or small group attention they needed to access the curriculum. Nearly 90% of schools said they would not replace staff who left.
The headteacher of a primary in the area, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid worrying parents, said: “Everyone had high hopes of better support from a Labour government, but it really does feel like things are about to implode.”
She said that a pay rise for teachers without funding to cover it would push schools like hers to the edge.
“We’ll all be telling teachers, ‘Hooray, you’re getting a pay rise, but the bad news is some of you will lose your jobs as we can’t afford it,’” she said. The head said her school now had far greater numbers of children with special educational needs, some so complex that “it would be dangerous not to give them one-to-one support”. But the school is now employing people on temporary contracts because it can’t afford to hire permanent support staff. Four teaching assistants have left in the past 12 months and only one has been replaced.
She added the school was having to ask teachers to do “so much more” to compensate for failures in other cash-strapped public services, including supporting children who are homeless or living with domestic violence.
“Sometimes you have to prioritise a child’s wellbeing over what they are doing in geography. But how do we juggle all this with fewer staff? It’s scary,” she said.
Mungo Sheppard, headteacher at Ash Green community primary school in Halifax, who sits on the local council’s schools’ forum and speaks to heads across Calderdale, said: “No one can afford to lose staff because the challenges we are dealing with are increasing every year.”
Merike Williams, a primary teacher in Stockton-on-Tees, gave evidence this week to the School Teachers’ Review Body, which is expected to make a recommendation to the government before the end of March on next year’s teacher pay award.
She told the Observer that her school had been forced to make two teachers and three teaching assistants redundant in the past year.
“Believe me, they were all really needed,” she said. “My days are so full on. I get stressed because I want to do the best for our children and after years and years of funding cuts it’s just not possible.”
She said she told the board that a 2.8% pay rise was “below what teachers deserve” but also urged them to push the government to fund any rise to avoid job losses across the sector.
“If it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable. Our boiler needs fixing and that will cost £200,000. We can’t even afford glue sticks.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “As the Calderdale survey makes clear there is nothing left to strip off the bone. Further cuts can only mean redundancies to staff and a reduction in provision for pupils.”
The union has estimated that the proposed unfunded pay award would lead to 76% of primary schools and 94% of secondary schools making cuts next year.
“It will make them the first Labour government to tell schools to make cuts since James Callaghan’s leadership in the 1970s,” he added.
James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Even now, we are hearing from leaders who are having to manage redundancies, often because of budget deficits. This can include cuts to leadership roles, teachers, and support staff.”
He added: “Pressures on the public finances may be severe, but few things are more important than children’s education and futures.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government inherited a challenging fiscal context, including a £22bn black hole. Nevertheless, the budget delivered on our commitment to put education back at the forefront of national life, protecting key education priorities including core funding for schools.
“We recognise the challenges schools are facing, but despite the challenging economic context, we are putting a further £2.3bn into schools’ budgets, with £1bn of that for children and young people with high needs.
“Alongside investment, we have been clear that we will support leaders to use funding as efficiently as possible including by offering schools a suite of existing and new productivity initiatives to help them reduce costs and manage their budgets.”
