Research School Network: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers: Four Evidence-Informed Priorities for School Leaders An evidence-informed overview of four areas where schools may be able to strengthen teacher recruitment and retention.

Recruiting and retaining teachers remains one of the most pressing challenges facing school leaders. In Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers¹, the EEF brings together the strongest available evidence on what may help schools attract, keep, and support their teaching staff. While the evidence base is still developing, and many findings are best understood as tentative ​“best bets”, the report offers practical guidance for leaders considering their next steps.

In this first blog in a new series, we summarise some of the EEF’s key messages. In future posts, we will share reflections from school leaders who are implementing these approaches, exploring what effective implementation looks like in practice. The EEF highlights four broad areas where there is evidence of promise:

• Teacher workload
• Flexible working
• School leadership, culture and climate
• Financial incentives and other benefits

Leaders should consider multiple approaches to workload reduction

In schools where multiple workload strategies have been implemented, teachers generally have a better satisfaction with their workload. Common strategies like shared schemes of work, feedback strategies, dedicated time for responsibilities appear to be effective. When surveyed², teachers have the following top priorities for workload reduction: behaviour; feedback and assessment; lesson planning and preparation; safeguarding and welfare.

Generative AI is something that may play a part in workload reduction. Promising research suggests teachers can save time planning while still maintaining quality (although we show here that it’s a bit more complicated than that.)

As well as implementing these strategies to workload reduction carefully, leaders should be explicit about what they are doing and why. A recent NFER Survey showed that leaders were significantly more likely than teachers to identify each of the listed strategies as being in place in their schools.

Flexible working is increasingly valued by teachers

One in five teachers works part time. This is the most common example of flexible working in a profession. Other forms that have become more common in recent years are taking PPA time at home, working staggered hours, ad-hoc personal days.

The evidence is not clear³ that these policies lead to greater retention, but leaders are positive about the part that it plays, and teachers are positive about how these approaches may well keep them in the profession longer. Case studies suggest that the enabling conditions for flexible working are:

Demonstrating supportive leadership and culture by actively championing flexible working and leading by example so staff can see it is genuinely valued.

Adopting a whole-school, proactive approach by routinely asking all staff about flexible working preferences and making policies clear, visible, and well understood.

Showing willingness to compromise by working collaboratively with teachers to find arrangements that meet both individual and school needs.

Timetabling with flexibility in mind by designing schedules and routines that make different working patterns practical rather than exceptional.

Clearly defining responsibilities by setting explicit expectations around availability, communication, and participation in meetings and professional development.

School leadership and culture play a critical role in retention

In a rapid evidence assessment by the EEF on ​‘school leadership, culture, climate and structure for teacher retention’⁴, the following prominent characteristics emerge.

1. a culture of collegiality;
2. a positive climate of school discipline;
3. a climate of intellectual stimulation; and
4. an equitable structure of workload and support distribution.

Leaders should consider how they develop these – and how they communicate these to potential applicants to the school.

Some of the specific practices that might interact in an effective school culture:

• providing teachers with instructional support;
• offering professional development opportunities for teachers;
• cultivating leadership potential in teachers;
• demonstrating individualised consideration for teachers;
• treating teachers with respect;
• considering teacher voice;
• supporting teacher professional autonomy;
• promoting collegiality in schools;
• developing an equitable support and recognition system;
• establishing an effective communication structure;
• attending to developing a positive climate of school discipline; and
• promoting a climate of intellectual stimulation

Teacher recruitment is influenced by pay and clearly defined benefits

One stark finding from the evidence is that schools serving disadvantaged communities typically have to pay more to recruit staff. One EEF study⁵ estimates this as a salary 10% higher to move to a school with a higher number of pupils eligible for FSM than their current schools.

Teachers are attracted by concrete benefits rather than vague language e.g. ​‘promoting wellbeing’ less attractive than a specific example of this such as increased PA time.

There are no simple solutions to teacher recruitment and retention, but the evidence suggests schools can make a difference through deliberate, well-implemented choices. If your school has taken an approach aligned with any of the areas outlined above, we would welcome hearing from you and sharing your learning as part of this blog series. Get in touch.

¹Lea, R. and Duff, A. (2025) ​‘Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers: A Summary of the Evidence for School Leaders’, Education Endowment Foundation’.

²Martin, K., Classick, R., Sharp, C. and Faulkner-Ellis, H. (2023) ​‘Supporting the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers in Schools with High Proportions of Disadvantaged Pupils: Understanding Current Practice Around Managing Teacher Workload’, Education Endowment Foundation’.

³Harland, J., Bradley, E. and Worth, J. (2023) ​‘Understanding the Factors that Support the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers – Review of Flexible Working Approaches’, Education Endowment Foundation. 

⁴Nguyen, D., See, B. H., Brown, C. and Kokotsaki, D. (2023) ​‘Reviewing the Evidence Base on School
Leadership, Culture, Climate and Structure for Teacher Retention’, Education Endowment Foundation.

⁵Allen, R., Ford, I., Jerrim, J., Menzies, L., Sims, S. and Sonmez, B. (2025) ​‘Evaluating Teacher Recruitment
Strategies Using Fully Randomised Paired Conjoint Experiments’, Education Endowment Foundation