9. What recent assessment she has made of trends in teacher recruitment and retention. (902851)

Teacher numbers are at an all-time high: there are 15,500 more teachers than there were in 2010; postgraduate recruitment is at its highest level since 2012-13; and in 2015-16 we welcomed back 4,200 teachers into the classroom, which is an 8% improvement on the 2011 figure. However, we are absolutely not complacent; we continue to invest in teacher recruitment and are actively addressing the issues that teachers cite as a reason for leaving the profession.

[Official Report, 11 December 2017, Vol. 633, c. 13.]

Letter of correction from Justine Greening:

An error has been indentified in the response that I gave to the hon. Member for Reading East (Matt Rodda) during Questions to the Secretary of State for Education.

The correct response should have been:

Teacher numbers are at an all-time high: there are 15,500 more teachers than there were in 2010; postgraduate recruitment is at its highest level since 2012-13; and in 2015-16 we welcomed back 14,200 teachers into the classroom, which is an 8% improvement on the 2011 figure. However, we are absolutely not complacent; we continue to invest in teacher recruitment and are actively addressing the issues that teachers cite as a reason for leaving the profession.