contributed by Tradewind Recruitment
Educator retention gets discussed constantly. And yet the numbers keep moving in the wrong direction.
Between 10 and 15% of newly qualified teachers in the UK leave within their first year. By the end of five years, that figure is 30 to 33%, according to Department for Education workforce data (2025).
Those aren’t small losses. They represent real people, real classrooms, and real costs absorbed by the schools left to manage the disruption.
Earlier this year, Tradewind Recruitment surveyed 959 educators and school leaders across the UK, asking what makes people stay, what’s pushing them toward the exit, and where the gaps between leadership priorities and staff experience are widest. What came back was revealing, and not always in the ways you’d expect.
The biggest dissatisfaction isn’t workload. It’s progression.
That surprises most school leaders when they first hear it.
Workload does matter. But across every factor we asked about, professional development and progression produced the highest levels of dissatisfaction. The disconnect between what educators feel and what leaders prioritise is striking:
| Factor | Educator Dissatisfaction | Leadership Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Progression & development | 1 in 6 unsatisfied (1 in 5 for specialist teachers) | 73% didn’t prioritise it |
| Workload | 1 in 9 unsatisfied (1 in 5 for permanent secondary) | 62% say it’s a focus |
| Work-life balance | 1 in 10 unsatisfied (1 in 5 for permanent secondary) | Frequently raised |
Closing the progression gap doesn’t always require budget. Clear pathways, communicated through staff handbooks and performance conversations, cost far less than losing someone and starting again.
Mental health: a structural issue, not an individual one
50% of educators said their mental health had been impacted by their role, increasing teacher turnover. That figure rises among the groups facing the most complex demands:
- 55% of SEND educators
- 58% of specialist subject teachers
Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index (2025) found 77% of staff experience poor mental health due to their work. In 2025 alone, the charity supported 4,877 staff through its free helpline. That scale of demand reflects something structural.
Practical starting points from our report:
- Review whether existing wellbeing support is actually visible to staff (many don’t know what’s available)
- Train Mental Health First Aiders who can offer immediate, confidential support
- Keep wellbeing conversations separate from performance conversations
Leadership: the biggest lever schools already have
42% of educators named leadership as a main reason they choose to stay in a school. But only 51% said school leadership actively supports them in achieving their professional goals. The gap between those two figures is where retention is won or lost.
Where culture and recognition are concerned, the data splits:
- 92% of educators said colleague support is important to them, and school culture scored higher satisfaction than almost any other factor. That’s a genuine strength.
- 91% said feeling valued matters when considering whether to stay. 92% of school leaders say staff recognition is a key retention focus. Yet only 61% of educators are satisfied with the recognition they currently receive.
The intention is there. The delivery isn’t quite keeping up.
Three things actually worth doing
The survey data points to three priorities that would move the needle, none of which require large budgets:
- Close the progression gap. Document clear pathways for all roles. Assign a Staff Development Lead and make sure CPD access is actively supported, not just mentioned in policy.
- Protect PPA time. It was the single most common recommendation in open survey responses. Not necessarily more of it, just consistently protecting what educators are already entitled to.
- Make wellbeing support specific and findable. Staff need to know who to approach, how, and that the conversation is safe. General policy statements don’t achieve that.
About the research
The survey ran between 4 and 17 March 2026 with 959 respondents: 225 school leaders and 734 educators, filtered into sub-groups by contract type, school type, region, and role specialism. Sub-group findings are only cited where statistically significant (at least 2% different from the whole educator sample).
The full report, Driving Change in Educator Retention, is available at twrecruitment.com.
Tradewind Recruitment works with schools, academies, and trusts across the UK to source and place quality educators. Because Education Matters.