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The 28 factors that influence teacher recruitment and retention in challenging schools

Recruitment & Retention Pay and conditions School improvement Whole-school issues Senior leadership Teaching staff Workload Early Career Teachers
Higher salaries and financial rewards given directly to teachers could boost recruitment in challenging schools, while workload reduction strategies are key to retention, a global research review suggests.

The review from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF, 2023) also finds that performance and recruitment bonuses could help challenging schools to attract and keep staff.

It concludes that heavier workloads, including working hours and leave entitlement, strongly influence teachers’ decision-making. There is potential to boost retention via effective CPD, induction support, and school leadership, too.

The review has been carried out by a team of researchers from the UCL Institute of Education and has considered the global evidence-base, including 55 studies relating to recruitment and retention in disadvantaged schools.

The review identifies 28 factors that influence recruitment and retention spanning three categories – system-level, school-level, and individual.

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