Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of agency supplied staff supplied to secondary schools in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb

Supply teachers provide a valuable role for schools, and schools themselves are best placed to make staffing decisions to reflect their individual needs. It is up to head teachers and governors to decide who is required for the job and this includes how best to cover absences.

The Department for Education collects details of all teachers working in state funded schools through the annual School Workforce Census. However, this census does not separately identify agency teachers from those employed by schools.