VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Teachers: Recruitment

Asked by Mr Andrew SnowdenConservativeDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 10 July 2026UIN 15513

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional teachers the Government expects to be recruited by the end of the Parliament.

Answered by Georgia Gould

This government is committed to recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers as part of our Plan for Change, because we know that high-quality teaching is the biggest in-school and college factor that contributes to better pupil outcomes.

In February, we published our delivery plan, which sets how we will recruit 6,500 secondary, special school and further education teachers over the course of this parliament. Our delivery approach is focused on three key themes - attracting, retaining and developing teachers. This ensures we have enough highly-skilled teachers in our schools and colleges to allow every child to achieve and thrive.

We have achieved 71.6% of our target. There are 4,654 more teachers, 3,008 more teachers in Secondary and Special Schools in 2025/26, and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25.

The latest School Workforce Census also reported the lowest leaver rate outside the pandemic, and a record number of teachers returning to the classroom.

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