Primary Education: Sick Leave
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to provide financial support to primary schools required to employ supply staff to cover long-term sickness absences.
Answered by Georgia Gould
Supply teachers perform a valuable role and make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
The core schools budget is increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27 and will continue to increase across the Spending Review period, seeing an above real terms per pupil increase in funding.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers.
The deal introduces a cap on rates for suppliers to tackle unacceptable practices and excessive supplier margins. This framework will provide a significant saving to schools and trusts who choose to use agency supply teachers.
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