Teachers to receive extra pay to stop them leaving the profession under government plans

Teachers work ‘too many hours’, education secretary Damian Hinds says

Some new teachers in England could receive an additional £5,000 in their third and fifth years (PA)

The education secretary has unveiled plans to give teachers extra payments to stop them deserting the profession as he admitted many currently work “too many hours”.

The government could offer some new teachers in England an additional £5,000 in their third and fifth years in the classroom as part of its new strategy to recruit and retain more teachers.

Teachers at the start of their career will be given a two-year training package and a reduced timetable of teaching, backed by at least £130m a year of additional funding.

It comes as the government failed to meet its teacher training targets in most secondary school subjects last year at a time when secondary school pupil numbers continue to grow.

Damian Hinds, education secretary, said: “I think teachers work too many hours – aggravated by unnecessary tasks like excessive marking and data entry, spending more than half their time on non-teaching tasks.

“But those who become teachers choose to do so to inspire young people, support their development and set them up for a bright future – not to stay late in the office filling in a spreadsheet.”

Additional cash incentives are also set to be given to new teachers who work in challenging schools.

And schools will no longer be defined as failing or “coasting” based on the results of GCSE exams – a measure which had been criticised for unfairly affecting schools with challenging intakes.

Mr Hinds added: “This ambitious strategy commits to supporting teachers – particularly those at the start of their career – to focus on what actually matters, the pupils in their classrooms.

“In a competitive graduate labour market we must continue to ensure that teaching is an attractive profession so we can train and retain the next generation of inspirational teachers.”

Last week, the government also announced plans to offer a “matchmaking service” to make it easier for teachers to find part-time job shares.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Teachers are the lifeblood of our schools but far too many currently leave the profession too early in their careers, and we simply must do more to put the joy back into teaching.

“The early career framework has the potential to be a game-changer.”

Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, said: “Teacher recruitment targets have been missed for six consecutive years and teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers.

“Nothing in this strategy will reverse years of real-terms pay cuts and the huge cuts to school budgets that have made it impossible for schools to recruit the staff they need.”