Further education college workforce using teacher pension data
Academic year 2024/25

Description of the data sets 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 underlying data files for the Further education college workforce using teacher pension data publication. This data is released under the terms of the  Open Government License. (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/)

The methodology 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 statistics and data cover institutions in the statutory Further Education sector in England for academic years 2002/03 to 2024/25.

File formats and conventions

Symbols used in the underlying data files are:

z =  not applicable - statistic cannot be produced. For example where a denominator is not available to produce a percentage.

Data files

Attrition

Filename: attrition.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2002/03 to 2023/24
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers in statutory FE not seen working in the sector the following year, split by region, provider type, gender and age.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name       |  Variable description
------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------
age_group           |  Age group
gender              |  Gender
headcount_leavers   |  Number of teachers not in service the following year
percentage_leavers  |  Percentage of teachers not in service the following year
provider_type       |  Provider type

Footnotes:

1. Teachers working in the statutory FE sector who the following year are based at an academy converter are not counted as leavers. This is to avoid misleadingly high attrition rates where an SFC converts and teachers have not in fact left their role.


Headcount

Filename: headcount.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2002/03 to 2024/25
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers in statutory FE and academy converters, split by region, provider type, gender and age.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                            |  Variable description
---------------------------------------  |  ------------------------------------------
age_group                                |  Age group
gender                                   |  Gender
headcount_staff                          |  Number of teachers
percentage_of_staff_within_statutory_fe  |  Percentage of teachers within statutory FE
provider_type                            |  Provider type

Footnotes:

1. The drop in headcount in Sixth Form Colleges from academic year 2017/2018 onwards can be partially attributed to some providers becoming academy converters and falling out of scope, rather than teachers leaving their education provider.


Full time equivalent (FTE) salary

Filename: median_fte_salary.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2002/03 to 2024/25
Content summary: Median full time equivalent salary of teachers in statutory FE, split by region, provider type, gender and age.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name   |  Variable description
--------------  |  -----------------
age_group       |  Age group
gender          |  Gender
median_fte_pay  |  Median FTE salary
provider_type   |  Provider type


Headcount by new, returning and continuing

Filename: new_returning_continuing.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2002/03 to 2024/25
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers in statutory FE split by those who are new, returning from a gap of a year or more, or continuing service from the previous year. Split by provider type.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                        |  Variable description
-----------------------------------  |  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
headcount_staff                      |  Number of teachers
percentage_of_staff_within_category  |  Percentage of teachers
provider_type                        |  Provider type
summary                              |  Summary - Filter by whether teachers are new (have never taught at a statutory FE provider before), continuing (taught the previous year in statutory FE), or returning after a gap (have no teaching records at least one year previous and have now returned to service).

Footnotes:

1. The drop in headcount in Sixth Form Colleges from academic year 2017/2018 onwards can be partially attributed to some providers becoming academy converters and falling out of scope, rather than teachers leaving their education provider.


Salary progression

Filename: new_salary_progression.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2024 December
Content summary: Median full time equivalent salary of teachers for each year of service in the statutory FE sector and the percentage change on the previous year worked. Split by provider type.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                     |  Variable description
--------------------------------  |  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
first_year                        |  First year teaching in statutory FE - The first year a teacher is observed teaching in statutory FE
median_fte_pay                    |  Median FTE salary
previous_year_median_fte_pay      |  Previous year median FTE salary
provider_type                     |  Provider type
years_worked_in_statutory_sector  |  Years worked in statutory FE - The number of years a teacher has worked within statutory FE
yoy_percentage_change             |  Year on year salary percentage change


Retention

Filename: retention.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2024 December
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers in statutory FE seen in service after a given number of years since joining the provider type.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                        |  Variable description
-----------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
first_year                           |  First year teaching in statutory FE - The first year a teacher is observed teaching in statutory FE
headcount_staff                      |  Number of teachers still in service
percentage_working_since_first_year  |  Percentage of teachers still in service
provider_type                        |  Provider type
years_since_joined                   |  Years since joining statutory FE - The number of years since a teacher first started working within statutory FE

Footnotes:

1. Teachers who join the statutory FE sector and later are based at an academy converter are considered still in service. This is to avoid misleadingly low retention rates where an SFC converts and teachers have not in fact left their role.


Destination of leaving teachers

Filename: teachers_leaving_next_position.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2002/03 to 2023/24
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers' destinations the year after leaving statutory FE.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name               |  Variable description
--------------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
headcount_leaving_staff     |  Number of teachers leaving
percentage_leaving_staff    |  Percentage of leaving teachers
position_in_following_year  |  Position in the following year - For teachers not seen working in statutory FE in the following year, this indicates whether they are seen working elsewhere in education.


Origin of new teachers

Filename: teachers_new_previous_position.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2002/03 to 2024/25
Content summary: Headcount and percentage of teachers' origins the year before joining statutory FE.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name              |  Variable description
-------------------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
headcount_new_staff        |  Number of new teachers
percentage_of_new_staff    |  Percentage of new teachers
position_in_previous_year  |  Position in the previous year - For teachers in their first year working in statutory FE, this indicates whether they are seen working elsewhere in education in the previous year.
