Govt should invest £260m in teacher training funding, report says

The government should honour its promise to invest in teachers, beginning by providing £260m to fund a new national entitlement to teacher training, according to a report by the IPPR think tank and the education charity Ambition Institute. 

The report comes ahead of the spending review and as leading teaching unions lay the groundwork for possible strike action over teachers’ pay. It follows the pledge by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, to recruit an extra 6,500 teachers and her declaration that “the best recruitment strategy is a retention strategy”.

The joint report shows that the additional funding could boost school standards, close the growing disadvantage gap, and improve retention by supporting additional training for 75% of teachers within four years. 

It also called professional development “the most cost-effective and empowering way to achieve high quality teaching”, which the report identifies as “the most powerful lever within schools’ control to close the disadvantage gap”.

Despite this, it flags that most teachers in England take part in fewer than 30 hours a year of professional development, less than half of the 62-hour average across other OECD advanced economies – and is further surpassed by the right to 100 hours in Singapore. 

According to the report’s authors, more teacher training will also help tackle other challenges that have brought many schools to crisis point – including meeting the complex needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the rising number of teachers leaving the profession. 

As a result, IPPR and Ambition Institute are calling for all teachers to be guaranteed free access to a core set of professional qualifications, including a new suite of short courses designed for busy mid-career teachers – which would effectively serve as a so-called ‘training passport’, from career entry through to leadership. 

Crucially, the report says that the new training entitlement would make teaching a more attractive profession, with teachers feeling better invested in and more able to progress.

Loic Menzies, IPPR associate fellow and lead report author, said: “Investment in the expertise of all teachers and the wider education workforce is the best way to unleash a powerful cycle of improvement. Right now, schools face a workforce crisis alongside a growing attainment gap. 

“If we want schools to serve children of all backgrounds better, we need to invest in teachers and others in the classroom. That doesn’t just mean pay – important though that is. We also need the government to make good on its pre-election commitment to continuous professional development.” 

He added: “Free access to a ‘golden thread’ of high-quality training opportunities should sit at the heart of that commitment and would empower teachers to provide the world-class education our children deserve.”