NAHT Cymru: make teaching attractive to control supply teacher costs

NAHT Cymru is urging the Welsh government to prioritise restoring teaching as an attractive career proposition, in response to figures sourced by the Welsh Conservative which show 16 councils spent more than £78m on supply teachers in 2023/24. 

While the school leaders’ union concedes that schools will always require the services provided by supply teachers, NAHT Cymru believe that the recruitment and retention challenges facing schools mean that demand has “undoubtedly grown, so much so that it cannot even be fully met by agencies”. 

Laura Doel, national secretary at NAHT Cymru, said: “This huge bill is shocking but not surprising, because although many schools are struggling to make budgets add up, they cannot magic the permanent teachers they need out of thin air and must still ensure they can deliver the learning pupils deserve – including in the event of short-term absences.

“While it is right that supply teachers are fairly paid, no private company should be making excessive profits off the back of this situation, and affordability should be a key consideration as the Welsh government continues work to develop a sustainable new supply teaching model after its recent pilot failed to get off the ground.”

She added: “The biggest priority should be to restore teaching as an attractive career proposition, and these findings must serve as a wake-up call for ministers that recruitment and retention is in crisis. That means restoring the value of pay following the real-terms cuts suffered since 2010, and tangible action to alleviate concerns over unsustainable workload and improve the wellbeing of teachers and support staff who are expected to do ever more, often with fewer resources.”