Four in ten new teachers quit over red tape and unruly pupils

13 April 2012

Stress: Research shows four in ten new teachers are driven out of the profession within two years

Four in ten new teachers are driven out of the profession within two years, research suggests.

Unruly pupils and red tape were cited as the main reasons for the high turnover.

The research also highlighted excessive workloads and lack of family time. The authors of the study called for a campaign to bring disillusioned teachers back into the profession.

The study, sponsored by the General Teaching Council and reported in the Times Educational Supplement, found the most common reasons for quitting within two years were 'behaviour of pupils/pupil discipline' and 'family reasons/ commitments'.

Both factors were cited by 19 per cent of leavers. Twelve per cent said they could not cope with the workloads.

Further figures from the GTC show that only 61 per cent of teachers are registered and 'in service' within 15 months of qualifying.

Keith Bartley, the council's chief executive, said: 'I don't want anyone to leave because they are burnt out or demoralised.

'What is important to us is that every teacher who leaves the profession feels positive about teaching and sees returning to the profession-in the future as a possibility.'

Andrew Hobson, associate professor of education at the University of Nottingham and principal investigator for the GTC study, said some teachers were driven out by bad experiences in their first job.

'If they come back to a different school and have a more positive experience, it is possible that they could be perfectly happy in the profession for many years,' he added.

Dr Pamela Robinson, a senior education researcher at the University of Buckingham, said her research had also highlighted pupil behaviour as a major factor in staff turnover.

'Schools are merely reflecting what is going on in the streets outside,' she said.

'It's a significant concern and means there's a greater need for good school leaders than ever before.'

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has blamed parents for the misbehaviour of some pupils and is next week expected to publish fresh advice to head teachers. He will urge schools not to let parental complaints about disciplinary sanctions undermine their authority.

Official figures last month suggested that classroom indiscipline is running at its worst ever level with schools forced to send home 2,200 disruptive children every day.

Heads handed out a record 434,280 expulsions and suspensions last year for offences ranging from persistent disruption to serious assaults on staff.

Almost half of pupils were barred for violent, threatening or aggressive behaviour directed at teachers or fellow pupils.

Tens of thousands more had to be removed for disruption, racism, sexual misconduct, drug and alcohol abuse, damage to property or theft.

The Policy Exchange think-tank recently warned that class sizes could soar unless primary schools recruit an extra 18,000 teachers over the next five years.

A predicted boom in the numbers of five- to 11-year-olds could push the country to the brink of another teacher recruitment crisis.

Jim Knight, the schools minister, insisted there had never been a better time to become a teacher, with an improvement in behaviour across the sector.

'Teaching is a challenging but deeply rewarding role, though we recognise that more needs to be done,' he said.

'We continue to talk to experts on the frontline to learn how we can improve conditions.'

Training bodies already provide behaviour management courses for those wishing to return to teaching.

It is estimated that the staff who quit schools each year have cost £68million to train.

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