Wales facing supply teacher shortage, Senedd committee finds

Some schools across Wales are being forced to employ unqualified staff to provide cover due to a shortage in supply teachers.

That is one of the findings of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, which has released its assessment of the Welsh Government’s attempts to address a lack of cover for schools.

Between 2020 and 2023 there was a 16.6 per cent reduction in the overall number of registered supply teachers, which dropped from 4,635 to 3,867.

The Committee recently carried out an inquiry to measure progress since a major report by the Auditor General for Wales in 2020 highlighted a number of problems that Welsh Government needed to tackle within the supply teaching system.

Four years ago the the Auditor General reported that: “The Welsh Government has taken action to support supply staff, tackle the root causes of teacher absence from the classroom, improve the management of absence and address some key concerns about agency contracts.

“However, gaps in data mean that it is still difficult to say whether some of these actions are having the intended effects.”

Despite steps being taken by the Welsh Government to address the issue, the committee said it remains “concerned” that progress is too slow, to the detriment if pupils.

Finding adequate cover in rural areas and a lack of Welsh language teachers to teach Welsh and other subjects through the medium of Welsh were major issues highlighted in 2020 and remains a specific problem today.

A lack of data about teachers’ absences for reasons other than sickness, and details about how schools are using the Welsh Government’s national agency framework to hire supply cover, also make it difficult to monitor how well Welsh Government is performing and if the arrangements represent value for money.

Drawbacks were also highlighted with the recruitment and retention incentives for teachers and the Committee is frustrated that The National Supply Pool for Wales – an online booking platform for schools to find teachers – has not yet been introduced nationwide.

Chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, Mark Isherwood MS, said: “It is said that ‘a good teacher can change everything’, but when that teacher is unavoidably absent the quality of the teaching cover really matters.

“We must provide the best possible provision covering teaching absences in the classroom so that children’s education does not suffer unduly.

“It is essential that we have an adequate supply of adequately paid, qualified and motivated supply teachers, across all ages and subjects, in both Welsh and English.

“Despite important steps being taken by the Welsh Government in recent years, the Committee is concerned that progress is too slow and that where action is being taken, the lack of monitoring means the Welsh Government cannot be sure if its approach is having the desired impact.

“Importantly, the Committee would like to see the long discussed ‘national supply pool’ made a reality nationwide and all supply teachers having access to the enhanced pay, pension and training provision of their colleagues.”

The report will now be shared with the Welsh Government for its response.