High teacher turnover rates at England’s largest academy chains revealed

Teachers working in some of England’s largest academy chains are leaving their jobs at twice the rate of their counterparts in non-academy schools, while academies are spending less in the classroom than local authority maintained schools, an investigation I have carried out for the Campaign for State Education (CASE) reveals today.

In primary schools, more than 30 per cent of teachers within three academy chains left their jobs in a single year, compared to an average of 16 per cent for local authority maintained schools across England.

And in secondaries, three chains had leaving rates – cases of a teacher departing the school - of 26 per cent or higher, compared to an average across non-academy schools of just 14.8 per cent.

The statistics, released by the Department for Education under Freedom of Information and published here for the first time on an academy-trust-by-academy-trust basis for the largest organisations, also show that one large academy chain had 22 per cent of teachers quitting its primary schools to leave state-funded education in England altogether, while for another academy trust, the corresponding figure was 20 per cent from its secondary schools.

The investigation also found, in a wider probe of official data, that academies are spending less per pupil, on average, on teaching and education support staff than their counterparts in the local authority schools sector, with academy teachers tending to be younger, less likely to be qualified and facing slightly higher class sizes.

These statistics seem to raise some fresh questions for the academies sector. Why are teacher turnover rates higher in academies, for example, and is the multi-academy trust structure itself contributing to England’s problems retaining teachers? Is the centralised management model enabled by the structure proving off-putting to some teachers?”

CASE commissioned this new report after an earlier investigation I carried out for it, published last year, found that academy trusts were spending millions of pounds more on highly-paid managers for schools than was the case in England’s largest local authorities.

With just over half of England’s state-funded schools now academies, and the rest still supervised by councils, this new report asked a follow-up question: was this higher spending on academies’ well-paid management accompanied by lower spending at classroom level?

The answer was “yes”. Academies are spending less per pupil on teaching, and less on education support staff, than is the case in local authority (LA) maintained schools. This is not the result of regional differences, the analysis also finds, with spending disparities enduring even when comparing schools of both types within individual local authorities.

Academies have slightly higher pupil: teacher ratios than do LA schools, with ratios being higher still within the 50 largest academy trusts: one trust, for example, had a primary school ratio of 28 pupils per teacher, compared to an average of 20.5 across the LA school sector.

Classroom teachers in the academies sector are paid less, on average, than their counterparts from the LA school sector, with those working in “sponsored academies” - generally schools which have been forced to leave their local authorities following adverse Ofsted reports – paid less again: £2,000 less per year on average than their counterparts in LA schools.

The investigation did not find evidence that this was because teachers of the same experience and expertise are being paid less in academies than in LA schools. Rather, it is the nature of the workforce, with teachers in academies – and “sponsored academies” in particular - tending to be younger and therefore generally only entitled to slightly lower salaries, which helps drive lower spending on average at classroom level in the academies sector. The proportion of teachers aged under 25 was almost 50 per cent higher in sponsored academies than in LA schools, with the former having a workforce overall which was two years younger than that in the latter.

In turn, higher teacher turnover in the academies sector may be contributing to creating a younger workforce.

The investigation looked at school-by-school data on teacher turnover for 2021-22, provided by the DfE under Freedom of Information. This detailed the total number of teachers in each school in November 2021, and the number who, as of a year later, had left for another state-funded school in England; or left state-funded teaching in England altogether.

In primary schools, annual teacher turnover for 2021-22– the proportion of teachers leaving any one school for any destination - was 15.9 per cent in the LA sector, compared to 19 per cent in academies. Within the 50 largest academy trusts, it was 20.6 per cent.

Some of those trusts had very high turnover rates from primary schools: at the Greenshaw Learning Trust, it was 33 per cent; and at Outwood Grange Academies Trust and the Chiltern Learning Trust, it was 31 per cent.

Primary LA schools saw 9.4 per cent of their teachers leaving state-funded teaching in England altogether in 2021-22. In academies, the figure was 10.4 per cent, while in academies within the 50 largest trusts, it was 10.9 per cent.

Among those trusts, Dixons Academies Trust saw 22 per cent of its primary teachers – more than one in five - departing state-funded education in England altogether in 2021-22. At the Co-operative Academies Trust, the figure was 21 per cent, while at Outwood Grange, it was 20 per cent.

In secondary schools, the proportion of teachers leaving their school for any destination in 2021-22 was 14.8 in the LA sector, 17.7 per cent among academies and 19.5 per cent within the 50 largest academy trusts.

Among those trusts, 32 per cent of secondary teachers at Leigh Academies Trust left their secondary school that year, while the figure was 27 per cent at Dixons Academies Trust, and 26 per cent at the Bourne Education Trust.

Secondary LA schools saw 8.7 per cent of teachers leaving state-funded education entirely in 2021-22, compared to 10.1 per cent in academies, and 10.3 per cent on average in the largest 50 academy trusts.

At Leigh Academies Trust, one in five teachers, or 20 per cent, left state-funded secondary education. At Dixons Academies Trust the figure was 17 per cent, while at the Bourne Education Trust, it was 15 per cent. 

This analysis follows a report published in April by the Education Policy Institute, based on data from previous years: 2016-17 to 2019-20, which had found that multi academy trusts “have higher rates of workforce turnover than local authorities”.

Also this year, the Commons Education Select Committee said there was broad agreement that teacher recruitment and retention in England was in “crisis,” with the figure of 40,000 working-age teachers leaving the profession in 2022 stated to be the highest since records began in 2010. (This is a period during which the proportion of schools which are academies climbed  from one per cent to more than 50 per cent; while that increase and teachers leaving may be a case of correlation rather than causation, it seems reasonable to start asking questions as to whether the academy trust structure, and multi-academy trusts in particular, has played any part.)

The CASE investigation also found that the proportion of teachers working in “sponsored” primary academies without qualified teacher status, at four per cent, was more than twice the 1.8 per cent seen in LA primary schools. In the secondary sector, 4.5 per cent of teachers in “sponsored” academies were unqualified, compared to 2.9 per cent in LA schools.

Last year’s CASE research (as reported on by Education Uncovered here; the investigation report itself is here) found that the largest 50 academy trusts were spending eight times more per pupil on salaries of £130,000 and above than were England’s largest local authorities, overseeing non-academy schools.

This year’s findings appear to paint a picture of lower spending at classroom level within “sponsored academies” in particular, compared to other schools, in contrast to the original mission of Labour’s academies scheme when it launched in the 2000s, aiming to transform previously struggling schools with expensive new buildings and extra resources.

The report concludes: “These schools [sponsored academies] are operating in often challenging circumstances with younger, less well-paid and less well-qualified teachers, with the academies sector as a whole having larger class sizes than those seen in the maintained sector…

“These figures, then, should provoke renewed questions about the impact of the academies policy, and in particular about the multi-academy trust structure as favoured by the Department for Education in recent years.”

I will continue to probe into these data sets.

Primary teacher turnover in 50 largest academy trusts, 2021-22

 

The 50 largest academy trusts in England, 2021-22, ranked by the proportion of primary teachers leaving their school, in 2021-22.

Trust	%Left school
GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST	33
OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST	31
CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST	31
HARRIS FEDERATION	30
THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST	29
THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST	29
DIXONS ACADEMIES TRUST	28
THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST	26
GLF SCHOOLS	26
LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST	25
THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION	25
NOVA EDUCATION TRUST	25
THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST	25
DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST	24
THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST	23
UNITED LEARNING TRUST	23
ARK SCHOOLS	23
HAMWIC EDUCATION TRUST	23
BOURNE EDUCATION TRUST	22
L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST	22
REACH2 ACADEMY TRUST	20
UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	20
E-ACT	20
ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST	20
THE ELLIOT FOUNDATION ACADEMIES TRUST	20
CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST	20
MERIDIAN TRUST	19
OASIS COMMUNITY LEARNING	19
THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST	19
RIVER LEARNING TRUST	19
SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST	18
MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	18
OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST	18
CABOT LEARNING FEDERATION	18
GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST	17
BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	16
ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST	16
NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST	16
ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST	16
EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST	15
THE SIGMA TRUST	14
STAR ACADEMIES	14
BISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	14
BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	13
THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST	12
WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST	11
ORMISTON ACADEMIES TRUST	9
REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST	6

(Only trusts within the 50 largest overall which had primary schools as of 2021-22 are included)

Source: DfE Freedom of Information response. 

The 50 largest academy trusts in England, 2021-22, ranked by the proportion of primary teachers leaving state-funded education in England, in 2021-22.

Trust	% left state-funded education in England
DIXONS ACADEMIES TRUST	22
THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST	21
OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST	20
HARRIS FEDERATION	18
THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST	16
UNITED LEARNING TRUST	15
DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST	14
THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST	14
ARK SCHOOLS	14
THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST	13
BOURNE EDUCATION TRUST	13
L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST	13
MERIDIAN TRUST	12
THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION	12
NOVA EDUCATION TRUST	12
GLF SCHOOLS	12
LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST	11
CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST	11
CABOT LEARNING FEDERATION	11
THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST	11
HAMWIC EDUCATION TRUST	11
UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	11
REACH2 ACADEMY TRUST	11
ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST	10
NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST	10
CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST	10
THE ELLIOT FOUNDATION ACADEMIES TRUST	10
OASIS COMMUNITY LEARNING	10
OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST	10
MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	10
E-ACT	9
THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST	9
GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST	9
BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	9
ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST	9
BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	8
BISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	8
SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST	8
GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST	8
ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST	8
RIVER LEARNING TRUST	8
EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST	7
THE SIGMA TRUST	7
WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST	7
THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST	6
ORMISTON ACADEMIES TRUST	6
STAR ACADEMIES	6
REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST	4

(Only trusts within the 50 largest overall which had primary schools as of 2021-22 are included)

Source: DfE Freedom of Information response. 

Secondary teacher turnover in 50 largest academy trusts, 2021-22

The 50 largest academy trusts in England, 2021-22, ranked by the proportion of secondary teachers leaving their school, in 2021-22.

Trust	% Left school
LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST	32
DIXONS ACADEMIES TRUST	27
BOURNE EDUCATION TRUST	26
CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST	25
OASIS COMMUNITY LEARNING	24
CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST	24
OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST	24
THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST	24
THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST	23
GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST	23
UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	23
HARRIS FEDERATION	23
STAR ACADEMIES	23
ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST	22
E-ACT	22
ARK SCHOOLS	22
THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST	22
GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST	21
NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST	21
UNITED LEARNING TRUST	21
MERIDIAN TRUST	21
THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION	19
ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST	19
CABOT LEARNING FEDERATION	19
THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST	19
GLF SCHOOLS	18
NOVA EDUCATION TRUST	18
BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST	17
L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST	17
THE TWO COUNTIES TRUST	17
SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST	17
MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	16
ORMISTON ACADEMIES TRUST	16
DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST	16
ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST	16
HAMWIC EDUCATION TRUST	16
RIVER LEARNING TRUST	16
THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST	16
THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST	15
BISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	14
THE SIGMA TRUST	13
REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST	13
OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST	13
THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST	12
WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST	12
BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	11
EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST	11
BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	8

(Only trusts within the 50 largest overall which had secondary schools as of 2021-22 are included)

Source: DfE Freedom of Information response. 

The 50 largest academy trusts in England, 2021-22, ranked by the proportion of secondary teachers leaving state-funded education in England, in 2021-22.

Trust	%Left state-funded education in England
LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST	20
DIXONS ACADEMIES TRUST	17
BOURNE EDUCATION TRUST	15
STAR ACADEMIES	13
OASIS COMMUNITY LEARNING	13
MERIDIAN TRUST	13
UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	13
OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST	13
THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST	13
UNITED LEARNING TRUST	12
CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST	12
ARK SCHOOLS	12
GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST	12
HARRIS FEDERATION	12
CHILTERN LEARNING TRUST	11
NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST	11
THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST	11
THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST	11
CABOT LEARNING FEDERATION	11
E-ACT	10
MIDSOMER NORTON SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP	10
GLF SCHOOLS	10
THE TWO COUNTIES TRUST	10
GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST	10
ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST	10
BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST	10
HAMWIC EDUCATION TRUST	9
ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST	9
RIVER LEARNING TRUST	9
L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST	9
THE CO-OPERATIVE ACADEMIES TRUST	9
OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST	9
THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST	8
DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST	8
NOVA EDUCATION TRUST	8
THE WHITE HORSE FEDERATION	8
ORMISTON ACADEMIES TRUST	8
SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST	8
THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST	7
THE SIGMA TRUST	7
WESTCOUNTRY SCHOOLS TRUST	7
ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST	7
BISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	7
REDHILL ACADEMY TRUST	7
THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST	7
BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	6
EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST	6
BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST	4

(Only trusts within the 50 largest overall which had secondary schools as of 2021-22 are included)

Source: DfE Freedom of Information response.