Teaching unions have accused the Government of misleading voters over its flagship pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers, warning that schools are in a state of crisis and chaos as they prepare for radical reforms.
Union leader criticises teacher recruitment target
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."
He added: "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."
Mr Kebede also questioned the Government's progress claims, noting: "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."
Official figures show teacher numbers falling
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.
However, 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.
Union leaders warn of reform burden
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?"
He added: "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 Ofsted 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 of the 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 claim broken promise
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."
She added: "It's another broken promise and it's the most disadvantaged children that will suffer."
