The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee launched a short inquiry on the above in 2025. This was based on a the National Audit Office’s (NAO) 2025 report on ensuring sufficient teachers in secondary and further education examined DfE’s approach to identifying and meeting teacher workforce needs. Based on the NAO report, the PAC called for evidence on subjects including:
(1) The workforce required in secondary and further education;
(2) Government decision-making on where to invest or intervene to address need; and
(3) Progress in addressing recruitment and retention issues.
The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys submitted evidence which has now been allowed to be published due to Parliamentary protocol.
Executive Summary
- There is a growing shortage of male teachers in England’s schools and current recruitment trends are not changing.
- Currently, just 24.3% of teachers in all schools in England are male with only one in seven teachers being male in primary/nursery schools (13.9%) and just over one third in secondary schools (35.3%). There are only 533 extra male teachers in England’s schools (2023/24) than in 2010/11. There are 27,346 extra female teachers.
- Current teacher recruitment trends will not address this change.
- With declining traditional ‘male industries’ accelerated by artificial intelligence, there is a broader economic and employment need to widen male employment opportunities. Improving numbers working in education can be considered is as a key avenue.
- There has been no known specific, sustained and targeted recruitment campaign by the Department for Education with respect to recruiting more male teachers. However, there has been a long-standing and welcome campaign to promote STEM careers for women and girls.
- There has been a regular flow of data and research showing men in the UK are not entering the teaching profession. There has been no known formal policy response to this research.
Recommendations
Recruitment Campaigns: There has been no known specific, sustained and targeted recruitment programme to persuade more male teenagers; male university students; and more middle-aged men (especially those who want to change careers, have skills to offer- especially vocational education); to enter the profession. A promotional campaign specifically aimed at men is an issue for the committee to consider and recommend.
It is noteworthy that there has been a welcome specific, sustained and targeted recruitment programmes to persuade more women and girls to enter professions such as STEM, where they have been historically under-represented.
Research Programme: There has been a regular flow of data and also research on why men in the UK are not entering the teaching profession. Reasons range from societal and cultural perceptions of teaching such as low status, stigma and gender stereotyping; economic and structural barriers such as pay, workload and progression; accessibility to training; and the lack of male representation becoming self-perpetuating. There has been no known formal policy response to this research with respect to how it can be adjusted to increase the number of male teachers. This is an additional issue of the committee to consider and recommend action takes place.