We round up the latest employment news.
Freedom of speech law coming into force soon
The remaining provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 are due to come into force on Friday 1 August 2025, after being suspended by the new Labour government in July last year.
The Act will strengthen the existing duties on HE providers, including many colleges, to strengthen existing free speech duties and create a culture of free speech for students and staff. The statutory tort remedy has been removed amid criticism that it could put excessive financial strain on HE providers and encourage vexatious litigation.
The Office for Students has not yet published its updated guidance. We’ll let you know once its available.
EHRC launches new consultation on single and separate-sex services
On Friday 25 April, the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that it would undertake a public consultation on updates it has made to its statutory code of practice for services, public functions and associations, following the Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers.
Initially, it said that the consultation would last two weeks. It's now extended that timetable to reflect public interest and to give it time to hold Q&A sessions with stakeholders representing those groups affected by the decision.
The draft code has updated the definition of sex throughout the code to say this is the legal sex recorded at birth and is unaffected by a gender recognition certificate. It provides guidance on how service providers, including schools and colleges, should interpret the single and separate-sex provisions in the Equality Act, including in the context of:
- Competitive sports (there’s an example at 13.1.5 regarding school sports)
- Toilets and changing rooms; and
- Communal accommodation.
The consultation, which you can respond to here, ends on Monday 30 June. There are separate questions for organisations and for individuals.
Insights from the STRB report on the teacher workforce
The School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) has published its 35th report, providing valuable insights into the state of the teacher workforce. The report highlights that teachers' median earnings have fallen by 18.2% in real terms since 2010-11, compared to a 2.5% drop for the whole economy and 11.2% for other professional occupations.
The gender pay gap in leadership roles has widened, with male leaders earning 5.3% more in primary and 4.2% more in secondary schools compared to their female counterparts. The overall pupil-to-teacher ratio remains high, with secondary school ratios slightly increasing to 17.4 in 2023-24, and average secondary class sizes rising to 22.4.
The teacher vacancy rate reached a record high of 0.6% in 2023, with 2,802 unfilled positions, and temporarily filled posts also hit near-record levels at 3,655. There were 27,746 new entrants to initial teacher training (ITT) in 2024-25, a 5% increase from the previous year, with postgraduate ITT seeing an 8% rise, while undergraduate ITT decreased by 5%.
Government extends flexible working for teachers
The government has extended the flexible working ambassadors programme for another year. This initiative allows teachers to plan lessons from home, job-share, or work flexible hours.
Burnout and isolation plague SEND staff
Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) are facing severe burnout and isolation, according to a recent report. Many SENCos report being overwhelmed by administrative demands and a lack of support and budget pressures which force them to take on multiple roles, leading to burnout.
The number of teaching vacancies which mention 'SENCo' has more than doubled from 37,737 in 2018/19 to 76,633 in 2023/24. And three-quarters of SENCos in North Birmingham changed over a two-year period.
Part-time teaching helps retain returning mums
A new study reveals that mothers who return to teaching part-time after maternity leave are more likely to stay in their jobs than those who return full-time. The Key Group report, based on data from 150,000 teachers across 6,700 schools.
Key points include:
- 39% of teachers who started maternity leave in 2020 left their school within four years, compared to 42% of all teachers
- 32% of part-time returners left their school, versus 45% of full-time returners
- 40% of returning mothers worked part-time, compared to 20% of all teachers
- 43% of secondary school returners left their jobs, rising to 60% in London.
EHRC calls for national training standards on restraining children
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published its response to the Department for Education’s consultation on the use of reasonable force against children. It wants the government to develop national training standards for restraining children and to require schools to record when they have used force.
Key points from the response:
- The EHRC recommends reframing the guidance in line with the Human Rights Framework for Restraint, which prioritises children's rights and calls for minimising restraint
- It calls for definitions of 'reasonable force' and 'seclusion' to be informed by human rights law principles; and
- It suggests providing further information on the duty to make reasonable adjustments and the legal duty on schools to make them for disabled people.
Teacher recruitment and retention show signs of improvement
New data from the Department for Education indicates that recruitment and retention pressures in England's schools may be easing slightly. Teaching vacancies fell by over 20%, with 2,200 unfilled positions, down from a peak of 2,800 in 2023/24.
Digging into the detail reveals a mixed picture. The number of full-time equivalent teachers decreased by 400 to 468,300, the first drop since 2017-18, but secondary school teacher numbers rose by 1,400.
Retention rates for new teachers improved, with nearly 90% of the 2023 cohort still teaching after one year. Support staff numbers are at a 10-year high, with 517,500 staff, including nearly 289,000 teaching assistants.
Data shows that median classroom teacher pay rose by 6.3% to just under £49,000, with headteacher salaries increasing by 5.5% to over £83,000.
Neurodiversity support scheme extended with reduced funding
The Department for Education has announced the extension of the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme into the 2025/26 school year. This initiative, which trains teachers to better identify and support neurodiverse students, will continue with a reduced budget. The first year of the programme reached approximately 450,000 children across 1,680 primary schools.
The programme's budget will be £9.5 million, down from £13 million in its initial year.
Free school meals to more children
The UK government has announced a significant expansion of the free school meals programme, set to benefit over half a million additional children from the start of the 2026 school year. This initiative will extend free school meals to all pupils from households on Universal Credit, aiming to alleviate financial pressures on families and improve children's educational outcomes.
Social media 'App Caps' for children
The UK government is considering introducing 'app caps' or curfews to limit children's use of social media to prevent them becoming addicted to their devices.
Proposals include:
- Setting a two-hour curfew on using individual social media apps
- Blocking access after 10pm or during school hours
- Toughening up online safety laws to protect children from seeing harmful content.
Pupil numbers fall
For the first time in over a decade, the number of pupils in England's schools has decreased. Data from the Department for Education shows a drop of over 59,000 pupils, bringing the total to 9,032,426 in January 2025.
Other relevant data relating to the academic year 2024/25:
- The number of academies has increased to 11,280, surpassing council-maintained schools, which now number 10,743
- Average infant class sizes have decreased to 26.2, the lowest since 2009, while secondary class sizes have slightly increased to 22.5
- The number of pupils in private schools dropped by 1.9%, but the number of private schools increased by 35.
Read more – June 2025
For general enquiries
0808 291 3524
Or we can call you back at a time of your choice
Phone lines are open 24/7, 365 days a year
