The calm before the storm in International teacher recruitment
New research has shown that the British international school sector will need an additional 230,000 teachers in the next ten years in order to meet staffing requirements. This hugely expanding business is thriving right now, but where will the teachers come from?
International Education has long been a hidden gem of the teaching profession. Little is discussed about the world of teaching outside the UK in graduate education courses or in the education sector as a whole. In previous years it was only a few who knew friends or family who had lived abroad that even considered it an option, to move abroad, start a new life and experience different cultures.
The international school market has experienced explosive growth over the past 15 years with the number of international schools more than doubling across the globe. In 2018 ISC Research, a UK-based organization dedicated to analysing, researching and tracking developments in the international school market, identified 9,605 International Schools globally in their Global report, with predicted numbers growing rapidly to double this figure by 2027. It calculated that there are currently over 4.96 million students enrolled in international schools around the world, with this figure rising to 10.7 million students by 2027.
The British curriculum has been a great success story in this explosive growth with demand for British schools and education being high. British international schools make up over 45% of the international schools market with 4,300 British schools globally. It is a sector worth more than £1 billion and is one of the UK’s leading exports.
The UK government highlights education as an increased export target and schools following the British curriculum worldwide are predicted to keep growing exponentially over the coming years to double in number by 2026. It has also seen a boom in the ‘Heritage brands’ expanding their growth and reputation abroad.
Now in many countries and continents you will find a Harrow, Wellington, Dulwich or Malvern. This is expanding rapidly as more charitable trust status schools seek alternative methods to increase revenue. In recent years Rugby, Repton, Brighton and London Collegiate have joined this growing trend. This is due to the rigour of the curriculum, the values these schools aspire to and the reputation that proceeds them.
With such extraordinary growth in the International sector, where will all the teachers required to facilitate this growth come from? A report by the Council of British International Schools, ‘Teacher Supply in British International Schools’, showed that in the past 6 years the sector grew by 6% per annum, again reinforcing the drastic need to address recruitment.
When you consider the trends in educational careers, apparent in the UK, the need for staffing is likely to become an issue in the coming years, particularly with the downward trend in teaching graduates and the rising number of teachers leaving the profession. Research by the Department for Education highlights that currently there is an overall shortfall of nearly 10% in recruitment targets to initial teacher training.
In the UK, workload and diminishing respect for profession are main reasons why, one in three or 35% of teachers wish to leave within five years. A poll by the National Education Union, which was conducted among teachers, school leaders and support staff in schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, revealed an education workforce exhausted after a year of Covid disruption, with 70% reporting increased workload over the last 12 months and 95% worried about the impact on their wellbeing. Out of 10,000 members participating in the poll, 35% said they would “definitely” not be working in education by 2026, while two-thirds (66%) said the status of the profession has got worse and blamed government for failing to listen to or value teachers.
With this in mind, where will British International Schools recruit teachers from to meet the needs of their client base. Where will the additional 230,000 teachers be found to deliver quality, British education and values?
Andrew Lynch, a senior consultant for Teaching Abroad Direct, comments, “The shortage of teachers around the globe is an urgent issue. At the root, we must do what we can to make teaching fulfilling. Of course, fulfilment differs from person to person but communication is key. We need to listen to teachers, both aspiring and experienced, learn what they need and deserve from their post and environment. Whether that is abroad or at home.”
There is quiet rumbling of a growing storm, a shortage in the UK of teachers leading to the government releasing appeals to retired teachers or teachers who have ‘left’ the profession to come back. An enormous growth in International schools that require a British qualified teacher with experience of the British curriculum. An increasing hesitancy of younger teachers to move overseas due to security issues and more current international teachers wanting to return to the UK to settle.
The problem is real, the problem is current, the future….unknown.
Christian Bishop