The Agency is to:

• appoint three experts with a special remit to help schools in challenging circumstance to recruit and retain teachers;
• appoint a recruitment manager to support and co-ordinate efforts in London; and
• provide funding for 19 more Recruitment Strategy Managers (RSMs) based in local education authorities.

Mary Doherty, Head of Teacher Supply and Recruitment at the TTA, said:

'Recruiting teachers is, and will remain, the responsibility of individual headteachers and governing bodies. Schools and local education authorities have introduced a wide range of initiatives to attract and retain teachers – such as financial incentives, career development packages, and help with housing.

'By increasing the funding available from £4 million to £5 million to create these new posts, we want to ensure that the most successful initiatives are more widely shared and incorporated into strategies to attract and retain the best teachers.'

Recruitment Strategy Managers

Extra funding for RSMs means they will now cover 97 local education authorities across the country. Their role is to develop strategies to address teacher supply issues in their particular areas, taking into account data on local need and conditions.

The RSMs, introduced by the Government in 1998 and employed by education authorities in posts funded by the TTA , advise on all aspects of teacher recruitment and retention policies – developing new initiatives, developing 'welcome packs' for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), organising placements for those returning to teaching after a career break, and promoting teachers’ professional development.

Specialist Recruitment Managers

A team of three Specialist Recruitment Managers (SRMs) is being recruited to support headteachers of schools in challenging circumstances. Each member of the team will cover one region - the North, Midlands and South.

They will work closely with education authorities and headteachers to develop strategies to address the needs of individual schools faced with recruitment and retention challenges.

They will also work on increasing the number of schools offering places under the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP), which enables people such as career-changers to earn a salary while they train to teach in school. The Government is increasing the number of places available by 570 to 2,250.

London

There will be extra support for headteachers and local education authorities across London through the appointment of a London Recruitment Strategy Manager (LRSM).

The LRSM will work with RSMs in the London local education authorities to co-ordinate recruitment across the capital, to share successful schemes and to develop a co-ordinated, collaborative approach to the recruitment of teachers for London.

The LRSM will also work with education authorities to produce a recruitment and retention strategy for London, increase the number of former teachers taking part in refresher courses, promote support for overseas trained teachers, and work with others to increase the supply of affordable housing for teachers in London.

Notes to Editors

1. Local education authorities were invited to bid for money to fund Recruitment Strategy Managers in their areas. The bids were judged on basis of need and quality against the original tender requirements. For the financial year 2001-2002 there will be 86 RSMs covering 97 education authorities.

2. Successful new bids for 2001-2 are: Bracknell Forest, Croydon, Dudley (with Sandwell and Walsall), Harrow, Islington, Kingston upon Thames, Lewisham Merton, Northamptonshire, Portsmouth, Reading, Richmond upon Thames, Sefton, Southampton, Sutton, Telford, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Westminster, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wirral. Local education authorities are in the process of making appointments.

3. The new posts for three Specialist Recruitment Managers and for the London Recruitment Strategy Manager are being advertised shortly. Schools in challenging circumstances are defined as those where less than 25 per cent of pupils do not secure five or more GCSEs at A-C grade, and schools in special measures.

4. The Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) enables people to undergo teacher training in school while earning a salary. The TTA pays the school £13,000 towards the salary and up to £4,000 towards training costs. The programme is particularly attractive to those changing careers, who now constitute around one third of entrants to teaching.

5. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) was established under the Education Act 1994. Its purpose is to raise standards in schools by attracting able and committed people into teaching and by improving the quality of teacher training.

6. The TTA is responsible for a wide range of initiatives to promote recruitment to the teaching profession; for funding initial teacher training, which is linked to the quality of the training provision and identified through OFSTED inspection; for further development of the standards for award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), including currently the new QTS Skills Tests for numeracy, literacy and ICT; and working with the New Opportunities Fund for the provision of training in the use of ICT in subject teaching.