School workforce in England
Reporting year 2025

This section describes the datasets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality, and any data conventions used.

Description

This page describes the data provided in the School Workforce in England national statistic underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the  Open Government License (opens in a new tab) (opens in new tab) (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for  Open Data (opens in a new tab) (opens in new tab) (https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-government-and-its-services/supporting-pages/releasing-data-in-open-formats).

The  methodology (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-workforce-in-england-methodolgy) should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality, as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

Coverage

The School Workforce in England publication provides the latest information at national and local level on the number and characteristics of teachers and support staff that work in state-funded schools in England.

The publication summarises information collected from schools and local authorities via the November School Workforce Census and links with data from other sources including the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme and the Database of Qualified Teachers.

The publication and it's underlying data files provide information on:

- Teacher numbers and characteristics- a time series of teacher numbers in state-funded schools in England, with breakdowns by post held, school type and phase, sex, age, ethnicity, working pattern and Qualified Teacher Status.
- Support staff numbers and characteristics- the number of teaching assistants and other school support staff employed by state-funded schools in England, with breakdowns by post held and school type and phase, sex, age, ethnicity and working pattern.
- Pupil teacher ratios- pupil data from the January school census are used to produce pupil teacher ratios and pupil adult ratios (teachers and all classroom-based support) for each school type and phase.
- Teacher turnover and retention- the number of qualified entrants to teaching (and whether they are new teachers or returners), retention rates, and the numbers of qualified teachers leaving the teaching profession (for example through retirement or leaving early).
- Teacher pay (Teacher Pension Scheme)- median pay estimates for overall teachers, with further breakdowns for region, school phase, grade and sex, with cross-breakdowns between the groups. Data covers teachers eligible for the Teachers Pension Scheme, regardless of participation. Year-on-year percentage changes have been calculated using median salaries. More information on this is available in the methodology.
- Teacher pay (School Workforce Census)- the salaries received (in £5,000 or £10,000 bands) for all teachers and separately for classroom teachers, leadership group teachers, and head teachers. Breakdowns by age, sex and school type/phase are included. Average mean and median salaries are provided for comparison purposes. Caution should be used when drawing comparisons over time. More information on this is available in the methodology.
- Teacher qualifications- information on the highest post-A-level qualification held by teachers, by teacher grade, relevant subject, and school type/phase.
- Subjects taught and specialist teaching- estimates are provided of the number of hours taught and by how many teachers, of each subject for Key Stages 3 to 5 in a typical week. Estimates are also provided of the number/percentage of teachers teaching each subject that have relevant post-A level qualifications in the subject. Similar data is produced showing the number of hours taught by teachers with relevant post-A level qualifications in the subject.
  These statistics are based on a large sample of secondary schools providing data on their teaching in a typical week.
- Teacher vacancies- the number of advertised teaching posts that were either vacant or temporarily filled at the census date in November (which is mid-term). It provides subject level estimates for these posts for secondary schools only.
- Teacher sickness absence- the number of teachers that have taken sickness absence in the previous academic year and the number of days they were absent.
- Teachers' Pension Scheme and teachers out of service- the overall number of teachers who have been awarded retirement benefits from the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme after leaving teaching service in England (can include further and higher education providers). Also included are estimates of the numbers of teachers who have left service or who never entered service in England.

In most cases, underlying data files include national, regional, local authority and school level information for schools in England.

File formats and conventions

Symbols used in the underlying data files are:

x = not available - information has not been collected or there are no estimates available at this level of aggregation.

z =  not applicable - statistic cannot be produced (for example where a denominator is not available to calculate a percentage).

c = confidential - data are suppressed to prevent disclosure of confidential information, such as details about a single respondent.

u = low reliability - values of the potentially low quality, for example where values of statistical significance thresholds are not met.

Data files

Size of the school workforce

Filename: workforce_2010_2025_fte_hc_nat_reg_la.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2010/11 to 2025/26
Content summary: Headcount and full time equivalent of staff by type of school and characteristics including post held, age group and ethnicity (additional file at school level)

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                 |  Variable description
--------------------------------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------------
establishment_type_group                      |  Type of school
fte_administrative_staff                      |  FTE of administrative staff
fte_all_support_staff                         |  FTE of all support staff
fte_all_teachers                              |  FTE of all teachers
fte_all_teachers_without_qts                  |  FTE of all teachers without qualified teacher status
fte_assistant_head_teachers                   |  FTE of assistant head teachers
fte_auxiliary_staff                           |  FTE of auxiliary staff
fte_classroom_teachers                        |  FTE of classroom teachers
fte_deputy_head_teachers                      |  FTE of deputy head teachers
fte_ft_administrative_staff                   |  FTE of full-time administrative staff
fte_ft_all_support_staff                      |  FTE of all full-time support staff
fte_ft_all_teachers                           |  FTE of all full-time teachers
fte_ft_all_teachers_without_qts               |  FTE of all full-time teachers without qualified teacher status
fte_ft_assistant_head_teachers                |  FTE of full-time assistant head teachers
fte_ft_auxiliary_staff                        |  FTE of full-time auxiliary staff
fte_ft_classroom_teachers                     |  FTE of full-time classroom teachers
fte_ft_deputy_head_teachers                   |  FTE of full-time deputy head teachers
fte_ft_head_teachers                          |  FTE of full-time head teachers
fte_ft_leadership_non_teachers                |  FTE of full-time leadership non-teachers
fte_ft_leadership_teachers                    |  FTE of full-time leadership teachers
fte_ft_other_school_support_staff             |  FTE of full-time other school support staff
fte_ft_school_business_professionals          |  FTE of full-time school business professionals
fte_ft_teaching_assistants                    |  FTE of full-time teaching assistants
fte_ft_technicians                            |  FTE of full-time technicians
fte_head_teachers                             |  FTE of head teachers
fte_leadership_non_teachers                   |  FTE of leadership non-teachers
fte_leadership_teachers                       |  FTE of leadership teachers
fte_other_school_support_staff                |  FTE of other school support staff
fte_pt_administrative_staff                   |  FTE of part-time administrative staff
fte_pt_all_support_staff                      |  FTE of all part-time support staff
fte_pt_all_teachers                           |  FTE of all part-time teachers
fte_pt_all_teachers_without_qts               |  FTE of all part-time teachers without qualified teacher status
fte_pt_assistant_head_teachers                |  FTE of part-time assistant head teachers
fte_pt_auxiliary_staff                        |  FTE of part-time auxiliary staff
fte_pt_classroom_teachers                     |  FTE of part-time classroom teachers
fte_pt_deputy_head_teachers                   |  FTE of part-time deputy head teachers
fte_pt_head_teachers                          |  FTE of part-time head teachers
fte_pt_leadership_non_teachers                |  FTE of part-time leadership non-teachers
fte_pt_leadership_teachers                    |  FTE of part-time leadership teachers
fte_pt_other_school_support_staff             |  FTE of part-time other school support staff
fte_pt_school_business_professionals          |  FTE of part-time school business professionals
fte_pt_teaching_assistants                    |  FTE of part-time teaching assistants
fte_pt_technicians                            |  FTE of part-time technicians
fte_school_business_professionals             |  FTE of school business professionals
fte_teaching_assistants                       |  FTE of teaching assistants
fte_technicians                               |  FTE of technicians
fte_workforce                                 |  FTE of all workforce
hc_administrative_staff                       |  Headcount of administrative staff
hc_all_support_staff                          |  Headcount of all support staff
hc_all_teachers                               |  Headcount of all teachers
hc_all_teachers_without_qts                   |  Headcount of all teachers without qualified teacher status
hc_assistant_head_teachers                    |  Headcount of assistant head teachers
hc_auxiliary_staff                            |  Headcount of auxiliary staff
hc_classroom_teachers                         |  Headcount of classroom teachers
hc_deputy_head_teachers                       |  Headcount of deputy head teachers
hc_ft_administrative_staff                    |  Headcount of full-time administrative staff
hc_ft_all_support_staff                       |  Headcount of all full-time support staff
hc_ft_all_teachers                            |  Headcount of all full-time teachers
hc_ft_all_teachers_without_qts                |  Headcount of all full-time teachers without qualified teacher status
hc_ft_assistant_head_teachers                 |  Headcount of full-time assistant head teachers
hc_ft_auxiliary_staff                         |  Headcount of full-time auxiliary staff
hc_ft_classroom_teachers                      |  Headcount of full-time classroom teachers
hc_ft_deputy_head_teachers                    |  Headcount of full-time deputy head teachers
hc_ft_head_teachers                           |  Headcount of full-time head teachers
hc_ft_leadership_non_teachers                 |  Headcount of full-time leadership non-teachers
hc_ft_leadership_teachers                     |  Headcount of full-time leadership teachers
hc_ft_other_school_support_staff              |  Headcount of full-time other school support staff
hc_ft_school_business_professionals           |  Headcount of full-time school business professionals
hc_ft_teaching_assistants                     |  Headcount of full-time teaching assistants
hc_ft_technicians                             |  Headcount of full-time technicians
hc_head_teachers                              |  Headcount of head teachers
hc_leadership_non_teachers                    |  Headcount of leadership non-teachers
hc_leadership_teachers                        |  Headcount of leadership teachers
hc_occasional_teachers                        |  Headcount of occasional teachers
hc_other_school_support_staff                 |  Headcount of other school support staff
hc_pt_administrative_staff                    |  Headcount of part-time administrative staff
hc_pt_all_support_staff                       |  Headcount of all part-time support staff
hc_pt_all_teachers                            |  Headcount of all part-time teachers
hc_pt_all_teachers_without_qts                |  Headcount of all part-time teachers without qualified teacher status
hc_pt_assistant_head_teachers                 |  Headcount of part-time assistant head teachers
hc_pt_auxiliary_staff                         |  Headcount of part-time auxiliary staff
hc_pt_classroom_teachers                      |  Headcount of part-time classroom teachers
hc_pt_deputy_head_teachers                    |  Headcount of part-time deputy head teachers
hc_pt_head_teachers                           |  Headcount of part-time head teachers
hc_pt_leadership_non_teachers                 |  Headcount of part-time leadership non-teachers
hc_pt_leadership_teachers                     |  Headcount of part-time leadership teachers
hc_pt_other_school_support_staff              |  Headcount of part-time other school support staff
hc_pt_school_business_professionals           |  Headcount of part-time school business professionals
hc_pt_teaching_assistants                     |  Headcount of part-time teaching assistants
hc_pt_technicians                             |  Headcount of part-time technicians
hc_school_business_professionals              |  Headcount of school business professionals
hc_teaching_assistants                        |  Headcount of teaching assistants
hc_technicians                                |  Headcount of technicians
hc_third_party_support_staff                  |  Headcount of third-party staff
hc_workforce                                  |  Headcount of all workforce
number_schools                                |  Number of schools
percent_pt_teacher                            |  Percent of all teachers that are part-time
ratio_of_teaching_assistants_to_all_teachers  |  Ratio of teaching assistants to all teachers
