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Teacher Recruitment & Retention
Is this devolved to Wales?
Devolved
The necessary powers are not reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Shared Powers
Insert a specific explanation of the powers situation for this issue here.
Not Devolved
The powers over this are reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Specific Section/Number/Clause).
The number of qualified teachers in Wales has remained relatively stable, but there have been long-standing concerns about shortages of specialist teachers at secondary school level, particularly maths and science1.
A lack of Welsh-medium teachers – including new entrants – will also hinder the Welsh Government’s targets for increasing the number of Welsh-speakers.
In January 2026, the previous Senedd’s Education Committee published a report on teacher recruitment and retention2.
The Committee’s major findings and recommendations were:
- The Welsh Government should review how well graduate recruitment works and whether there are any cost barriers to training as a teacher.
- It should be made clear that completing teacher training in England isn’t a barrier to working in Wales.
- Teachers should be supported to undertake sabbatical training opportunities, and offered better mentoring to consider promotion to leadership roles.
- More work needs to be done to cut teacher workloads, and it needs to be made clear that activities that don’t need to be done in school (such as lesson planning) can be done off-site.
- A national body to set pay and terms and conditions for school support staff should be established.
There are more detailed figures below. The majority of the teaching workforce is female, and most new entrants to teaching train for primary school level.
Percentage of teachers leaving the profession by sector and destination (custom table)
Initial teacher education enrolments at Welsh higher education providers by personal characteristics, all entrants, plus education phase/primary or secondary (custom table)
Total qualified teachers, Full-time equivalent (custom table)
The categorisation for Welsh-medium schools changed in 2023-24 so later figures aren’t entirely comparable.
Full-time equivalent teachers by sex (custom table)
Costs & Economic Impact
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Who has raised this at the Senedd?
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
First Minister
Anna Brychan MS
Education & Welsh Language Minister
Dr Gwyn Williams MS
Backbencher
Rebeca Phillips MS
Backbencher
Alun Cox MS
Backbencher
Sera Evans MS
Chair: Education & Young People
Helen Jenner MS
Leader of the Opposition
Francesca O'Brien MS
Shadow Local Government Minister
Lynne Neagle MS
Labour Whip
Shav Taj MS
Backbencher
Huw Thomas MS
Backbencher
Sam Rowlands MS
Chair: Finance
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
First Minister
Anna Brychan MS
Education & Welsh Language Minister
Dr Gwyn Williams MS
Backbencher
Rebeca Phillips MS
Backbencher
Alun Cox MS
Backbencher
Sera Evans MS
Chair: Education & Young People
Helen Jenner MS
Leader of the Opposition
Francesca O'Brien MS
Shadow Local Government Minister
Lynne Neagle MS
Labour Whip
Shav Taj MS
Backbencher
Huw Thomas MS
Backbencher
Sam Rowlands MS
Chair: Finance
What are the party positions on this?
- Supports improved working conditions
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Plaid backbenchers have backed Welsh government policies, particularly efforts to boost teacher numbers and support Welsh-medium education.
- Supports
- Opposed
- Mixed Views
While supporting the principle of measures to improve recruitment and retention, some MSs have been outright opposed to certain recruitment incentives – such as those aimed at increasing the number of teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds.
- Supports
- Sceptical
- Neutral/No Opinion
Labour MSs have shown a scepticism around Plaid Cymru’s proposals. They have actively pushed for more funding for Additional Learning Needs, and urgent negotiations on teachers’ pay following a dispute with headteachers unions.
- Supports
- Sceptical
- Neutral/No Opinion
The Conservatives have been sceptical that the Welsh Government will do enough to tackle certain teaching issues – such as cutting workloads and addressing classroom behaviour.
- Supports improved working conditions
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Green MSs haven’t said anything on this specifically, but have spoken on related issues – such as pay and working conditions for school support staff.
- Supports
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Jane Dodds hasn’t said anything on this specifically.
Who is responsible?
Anna Brychan MS
Education & Welsh Language Minister
What have ministers said?
What's being done about this?
Plaid Cymru included several commitments related to this in its 2026 Senedd election manifesto.
The key ones include a commitment to reducing teachers’ workloads, a a commitment to expand Welsh-medium education, as well as a specific pledge to match English grants for teacher training in subjects with shortages (Priority Subject Incentives).
In the case of the latter, the incentive will increase to £20,000 as of September 2027. It will need to increase further to £30,000 to meet the manifesto promise.
Probably not.
There’s no set timescale. Though you would expect the Welsh Government to have met all of its manifesto commitments in this area before the end of the current term (April 2030), with year-on-year progress.
What have the Senedd's Committees said?
Nothing has been discussed yet.
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Relevant Votes
Nothing to see yet.
Further Reading
- Estyn (February 2025). “Recruitment and retention“
- Children, Young People & Education Committee (January 2026). “Teacher recruitment and retention“
Related Issues
