Recruitment Matters - August 2018

Issue 64 August 2018

RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence

The big talking point

Legal Update

New beginnings

The digital CEO

Flexible working

p2-3

p4

What’s coming up p6

Legal Eagle and the IRP Awards p8

AGENCIES CRUCIAL IN FINDING RIGHT CALIBRE TEACHERS Ninety-eight per cent of recruitment businesses receive less than two hours’ notice from schools to place a teacher on the day, according to a new survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). More than three-quarters of respondents say the quick turnaround is why schools use agencies, and 66% said schools are approaching them more to find teachers with specific

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skills for permanent placements. REC director of policy Tom Hadley says agencies are under immense pressure to find highquality teachers at great speed, relying on agencies to bring in fully-vetted and qualified teachers at short notice. “When a teacher can’t be in the classroom for any reason, pupils can’t just be passed off to existing teachers or teaching assistants in the place of a fully qualified teacher– they need dedicated resource,” he says. “We all understand the cost pressures on schools but these costs must be put in context and weighed against the cost of

employing more permanent staff or having in house recruitment banks replicate the work of specialised agencies in sourcing, and placing suitably skilled substitute teachers.” Teacher retention is a

92%

Recruitment agencies say their consultants first get in the office between 6am-8am in order to meet demand.

74%

recruiters are able to supply a teacher at least 90% of the time, despite the short notice.

84%

recruitment agencies provide CPD opportunities for teachers registered with them.

challenge, with statistics from the Department for Education showing that 26% of teachers that started in 2013 were not in post three years later – the lowest figure since records began in 1996. The REC survey shows three quarters (76%) of agencies have persuaded a candidate to remain in the teaching profession in the last year. Hadley says the importance of education agencies in finding teachers can’t be understated. “Ensuring that the right calibre of teacher is in place isn’t something that can be compromised which is why majority of them use specialist agencies for advice and support,” he says.

www.rec.uk.com 09/07/2018 17:02