Labour promised an eaxtra 6,500 teachers
School pupils taking GCSE exams (Image: Rui Vieira/PA Wire)
Teachers’ leaders have accused the Government of “misleading” voters over a flagship pledge to recruit 6,500 extra teachers. And they warned that schools were in a state of “crisis” and “chaos” as they attempted to prepare for radical reforms, including changes to special needs education.
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of The National Education Union, Britain’s biggest teaching union, said: “It is my view that, on the 6,500 teachers pledge, the Government has been misleading the public. “An additional 6,500 teachers would of course be welcome, but it is my view that the target is neither broad enough nor sufficient to meet the crisis facing our schools.”
He said: “The Government says that it has been making progress – I think it says that there are 4,600 additional teachers on its chosen measure – yet we all know that the total number of teachers fell last year by 1,900.”
Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto promised: “Labour will recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers”. The pledge referred to England, as schools are the responsibility of devolved administrations in other parts of the UK.
But latest official figures show there are 466,372 full time teachers in England, down from 468,694 in 2024, a fall of 2,322.
Labour argues that the number is going up if primary schools are excluded and only teachers in secondary schools, special schools and further education colleges are counted,
Teaching leaders expressed alarm as they gave evidence to a House of Commons inquiry. Darren Northcott, National Official with teaching union the NASUWT, said: “It is not clear where the 6,500 figure comes from. What calculations led to it?
“I am not sure it is enough. Research undertaken by the National Audit Office said that further education alone would need between 8,000 and 12,000 additional teachers to address rising student numbers. The figure certainly is not ambitious enough, and it is still not entirely clear what it means and what it does not mean.”
Union bosses warned schools would struggle to cope with changes set out in Labour’s schools White Paper, called Every Child Achieving and Thriving, published in February. This included reforms to the school curriculum and bringing more special needs education (SEND) into mainstream schools. The school inspection system led by Oftsed has also changed, and the Government is to push for more youngsters to take vocational courses rather than aiming for university.
James Bowen, Assistant General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers, told the inquiry: “The big worry for us at the moment is the cumulative load that is about to fall on schools, and the scale of reform that is about to hit them in the next 18 months.”
Mr Kebede said: “We have chaos in the system, which is being driven by restrictions on school funding, a decline in pupil roll and fewer teachers in the system. That is leading to chaos: redundancies, restructures and, at times, school closure.”
Conservatives said Labour had promised that imposing VAT on independent school fees would lead to more teachers being recruited in the state sector.
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said: “Labour’s vindictive Education Tax was meant to bring in 6,500 more teachers. Instead there are almost 2,000 fewer, schools are being forced to close, disrupting children’s education and placing further pressure on already-stretched services in the state sector.
“It’s another broken promise and it’s the most disadvantaged children that will suffer.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We know teachers do an incredible job, which is why we’re focused on recruiting and keeping great teachers where they’re needed most.
“Teacher numbers are rising in secondary, special schools and colleges, with 4,654 more than in 2024/25 – already over 71% of the way towards our 6,500 commitment. As pupil numbers change, we’re deliberately targeting recruitment at the parts of the system where demand is greatest.
“We know schools are managing significant change, which is why we’re also investing in retention, workload and wellbeing support – alongside pay awards of almost 17% over two years – to give teachers and leaders the support they need to deliver these reforms.”