Recruitment crisis exacerbated by teachers ‘flocking abroad’, Ofsted warns

The teaching recruitment crisis is being exacerbated by a large number of teachers opting to work abroad, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned.

Wilshaw said that the UK is facing a ‘brain drain’, as teachers are ‘flocking abroad’ to work in the growing international sector, often working for overseas branches of elite UK public schools.

In 2015 the number of teachers who left to work abroad reached 18,000, which is more than the total of teachers that trained on post-graduate courses (17,000).

There is an increasing demand for British trained teachers due to a boom in international schools that follow a British-style curriculum and use the English language. There are already 100,000 full-time teachers from the UK working in the international sector, which Wilshaw claims makes the UK the world’s largest exporter of teachers.

According to Wilshaw, teachers are enticed to areas such as the Gulf States and the Far East by competitive, tax-free salaries, free accommodation and a warmer climate.

The figures are worrying, as a large number of British talent is moving overseas at a time when the UK is facing a crisis in recruiting teachers, with the Department for Education failing to meet recruitment targets for the fourth year in a row.

Wilshaw criticised leading pubic schools, naming Harrow, Marlborough, Shrewsbury and Brighton College, saying that they should ‘put more effort into supporting the education system closer to home’ instead of establishing branches in ‘far-flung corners of the world’.

The Ofsted chief said that more needs to be done to keep British teachers in English schools, suggesting that financial incentives could be a good way of doing this. Wilshaw says that the government must gain a ‘better understanding of the scale of the exodus of teaching talent’ and is calling for a greater focus on how to curb the outward flow of UK teachers, as part of an over strategy to ensure future supply of teachers keeps apace with demand.