Labour ‘taking credit’ for teachers recruited before it won power

Labour has been accused of “taking credit” for teacher recruitment that occurred before it entered government, after claiming it has already met 70 per cent of its landmark target.

The party promised in its manifesto to recruit 6,500 more teachers. It only released its recruitment strategy in February as part of the schools white paper.

The Department for Education said today that it has so far recruited 4,654 additional secondary, special and further education teachers against its pledge.

This is broken down as 3,009 more secondary and special teachers last November than there were in 2023, and 1,646 additional further education teachers.

However, the DfE factored into its analysis an increase of more than 1,400 secondary and 903 special teachers seen at the start of the 2024-25 academic year, just two months after Labour gained power.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson celebrated the figures today, saying government was making “real progress where it’s needed most”.

‘Unlikely’ Labour policies swayed 2024 recruitment

Jack Worth, education workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research, said counting workforce data collected in autumn 2024 means “it is highly unlikely” that Labour’s policies “could have had a meaningful impact on those figures”.

Worth said figures from November 2024 “largely reflect the economic context and decisions taken before the change of government”.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “Labour cannot take credit for recruitment figures that were set in motion before they took office.

“Teachers starting in September 2024 would have been recruited before the election, so the numbers have nothing to do with their policies.”

Worth agreed that the main teacher recruitment window for schools is during the spring and summer months, in the lead up to the next academic year. Teachers also have a resignation deadline for May half term.

The DfE was approached for comment.