Teacher retention in 2026: fewer departures, but a smaller FTE workforce

England’s latest workforce figures describe a mixed picture, not a simple story of accelerating departures. For school leaders planning the autumn term, the important question is which pressure they actually face: losing colleagues, reducing contracted hours, or struggling to recruit particular expertise. Those problems need different responses. This Schoolgle briefing separates the national evidence from our suggested approach to local workforce planning.

What the June release actually shows

DfE’s 2025 school workforce release, published on 4 June 2026 and last updated on 17 August 2026, records 466,372 full-time-equivalent teachers in England’s state-funded schools, approximately 1,900 fewer than in 2024. Qualified teacher leavers fell to 38,632 FTE, about 2,100 fewer than the previous year; the leaver rate was 8.5%. These are different populations: the total includes qualified and unqualified teachers, while the leaver measure covers qualified teachers.

Entrants exceeded leavers, but changes in working hours also matter. DfE reports a net reduction equivalent to 2,950 qualified teacher FTE from changes in working patterns. A person staying in teaching on fewer hours is not the same event as a resignation. Nor does leaving England’s state-funded sector necessarily mean abandoning education altogether. The figures therefore cannot be reduced to “more recruits minus resignations equals the total workforce change”.

Retention is a cohort measure

The retention dataset follows teachers after gaining qualified teacher status. Of the 2024 qualifying cohort, 89.7% remained in England’s state-funded schools one year later. That is not the annual retention rate for every teacher, or the percentage staying in the same school. Governors should ask which denominator a dashboard uses before comparing their school with this figure.

The recruitment pipeline and working week

The 2025/26 initial teacher training census, updated on 3 March 2026, reports 26,989 new postgraduate entrants, 12% above the revised previous year. These are provisional training entrants, not confirmed September appointments. This release also incorporates self-funded trainees into the historical series. Comparing it with an older downloaded table without checking the revised coverage risks attributing a statistical change to a recruitment improvement.

There is also evidence of reduced working hours, alongside continuing demands. In DfE’s wave 4 summary, full-time teachers reported an average 50.1 hours in their most recent full term-time week in 2025, compared with 51.2 in 2024. Full-time leaders reported 56.5 hours, down from 57.6. These are survey estimates, not contractual hours or a census measure. The full research and technical reports were added on 30 April 2026; the survey itself took place in 2025. Lower average hours do not establish why individual colleagues stay or leave.

Schoolgle’s editorial recommendation: diagnose before buying a solution

Start with a small, consistent local picture. Record staff headcount and contracted FTE separately. For departures, distinguish a move within the trust, a move to another school, retirement and a destination that is unknown. Keep personal explanations confidential. A governor report needs patterns and actions, not identifiable accounts of somebody’s health or family circumstances.

Consider a fictional two-form-entry primary. Three teachers request reduced hours and one colleague moves to a promoted post elsewhere. Calling all four “retention failures” would obscure the decisions available. A workable job-share might retain expertise; a planned leadership pathway might support succession. Equally, keeping every post filled does not demonstrate a sustainable workload if remaining colleagues repeatedly absorb unplanned cover.

For the first half-term, agree one problem to investigate with staff. If duplicated assessment recording is the concern, map the actual sequence: who enters information, who checks it, which meeting uses it and what decision follows. Trial removing one duplication. Check whether time is saved and whether teachers can still identify pupils needing support. Avoid introducing a new reporting system merely to count the burden of the old one.

Bring the findings back to governors with three items: the baseline, the change tested and the evidence of its effect. Include staff feedback and any unintended consequences. A smaller data collection that nobody trusts is not progress. A national improvement also does not excuse a deteriorating local experience. The useful leadership response to this release is a more precise question about capacity and working conditions, followed by a change that colleagues can actually notice.