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The Further Education Teacher Workforce in England: Annual Report 2026

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Further Education Teacher Workforce in England: Annual Report 2026
Language: English
Authors: Michael Scott, Lillian Flemons, Jack Worth, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) (United Kingdom)
Source: National Foundation for Educational Research. 2026.
Availability: National Foundation for Educational Research. The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 2DQ, UK. Tel: +44-1753-574123; Fax: +44-1753-637280; e-mail: enquiries@nfer.ac.uk; Web site: http://www.nfer.ac.uk
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 23
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: Nuffield Foundation (United Kingdom)
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Descriptors: Teacher Supply and Demand, Foreign Countries, Teacher Salaries, Labor Force, Teacher Shortage, Faculty Workload, Working Hours, Faculty Development, Well Being, Work Environment, Teacher Participation, Teacher Attitudes, Adult Educators
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom (England)
ISBN: 978-1-916567-52-8
Abstract: The further education (FE) sector plays a crucial role in ensuring young people and adults have education and training opportunities to gain skills. The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that a high-quality FE teaching workforce is a critical underpinning for the quality of FE (DfE, DWP, and DSIT, 2025). However, over the last decade, the FE sector has struggled to attract and retain the numbers of highly skilled teachers it needs. In the last two years, the Labour government has made FE, and therefore FE teachers, a key policy focus. FE teachers are included in the Government's headline target to recruit 6,500 more teachers in England by the end of the parliament (DfE, 2026a). One of the key objectives of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper is to establish 'a specialist and prestigious further education system that delivers high-quality education and training for all (DfE, DWP, and DSIT, 2025). The White Paper outlined various policy changes aimed at recruiting and retaining FE teachers, including a new professional development pathway, teacher training, and industry-exchange programmes. New funding is explicitly aimed at supporting FE providers to recruit and retain more teachers. The aim of the National Foundation for Educational Research's (NFER) annual series of reports on the education workforce is to monitor progress towards meeting workforce supply challenges. This report summarises the latest research and key trends in FE teacher numbers, shortages, pay and working conditions, and points towards policy actions that are likely to have the greatest impact on addressing the challenges.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED679738
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:The further education (FE) sector plays a crucial role in ensuring young people and adults have education and training opportunities to gain skills. The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that a high-quality FE teaching workforce is a critical underpinning for the quality of FE (DfE, DWP, and DSIT, 2025). However, over the last decade, the FE sector has struggled to attract and retain the numbers of highly skilled teachers it needs. In the last two years, the Labour government has made FE, and therefore FE teachers, a key policy focus. FE teachers are included in the Government's headline target to recruit 6,500 more teachers in England by the end of the parliament (DfE, 2026a). One of the key objectives of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper is to establish 'a specialist and prestigious further education system that delivers high-quality education and training for all (DfE, DWP, and DSIT, 2025). The White Paper outlined various policy changes aimed at recruiting and retaining FE teachers, including a new professional development pathway, teacher training, and industry-exchange programmes. New funding is explicitly aimed at supporting FE providers to recruit and retain more teachers. The aim of the National Foundation for Educational Research's (NFER) annual series of reports on the education workforce is to monitor progress towards meeting workforce supply challenges. This report summarises the latest research and key trends in FE teacher numbers, shortages, pay and working conditions, and points towards policy actions that are likely to have the greatest impact on addressing the challenges.
ISBN:978-1-916567-52-8