diversity | Schools Week

Drop in new teachers securing jobs, and 5 more findings from ITT data

The number of newly qualified teachers securing jobs in state schools saw a sharp drop during the pandemic, official figures show. Newly-published initial teacher training data for 2019-20 shows aspiring primary teachers taking the hardest hit as stagnating birthrates also hit recruitment. The Department for Education figures also lay bare the differing pass rates and […]

Teacher departures down 17% during pandemic, plus 4 more school workforce findings

Teaching’s increasingly young and diverse workforce continued to grow last year as staff departures slumped during Covid, new figures show. The Department for Education published its annual ‘school worforce in England’ data on Thursday, based on the November 2020 school workforce census. Here are the key findings. 1. Teacher numbers rise as staff stay […]

Investigation: diversity of education leadership roles fails to improve despite DfE pledge

The proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) leaders of England’s largest academy trusts has fallen, with 98 per cent of the top chains now run by white bosses. A Schools Week analysis of the 98 trusts with 15 or more schools suggests just two chief executives are from BAME backgrounds. It is not […]

Children need to see more ethnically diverse school leaders

Few school leaders and senior managers are from non-white backgrounds. How long will education have to wait for that to change, asks David Hermitt The long-standing issue of a teaching workforce that reflects the children it serves has surfaced again. This time, we have the personal commitment of the education secretary that he will take […]

Revealed: the lack of diversity in education leadership roles

Only three per cent of the largest academy trusts in the country are led by non-white bosses, a new analysis by Schools Week has found. Revealing a stark diversity gap in education’s top jobs, our study suggests just two chief executives of the 72 academy trusts with 15 schools or more are black, Asian and […]

How do we improve diversity in the media without tokenism?

Every summer, Schools Week publishes a count of how many women vs men – and how many BAME contributors – have been represented in the publication’s expert articles, front pages and profile interviews over the school year. Here Cath Murray considers why representation is important, explains how Schools Week has worked to improve it, and presents this […]