From staffing shortages and pay increases to government policy changes, lots of changes are afoot in the UK’s education sector in 2025!
We recognsise there is a challenge or two ahead. But there are also opportunities and bright spots for educators in the pipeline – it’s a matter of taking advantage of them. Here, we’ll highlight the key school trends 2025 has to offer for educators and how to prepare now for the year ahead.
Persistently low teacher retention rates are one of the education sector’s biggest challenges, and 2025 is unlikely to bring relief in this area. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of teachers who left the state sector one year after qualifying totalled 40,438. Meanwhile, vacancies for teacher jobs increased by 20.1% in the twelve months to November 2023. These figures reveal how significant the burden is on schools to recruit teachers and retain them. The effect is being felt across classrooms, affecting the availability of subjects and teachers to cover subjects suited to their specialism.
In 2025, having a recruitment action plan that enables your school to address staffing gaps before they become acute is a sensible move. Engaging an expert in education recruitment support can help you address both short- and long-term vacancies while you balance the books.
Focusing on teacher retention is just as vital as effective recruitment. Key strategies to improve your teacher retention include managing workloads to prevent burnout and regularly recognising and rewarding your teachers' hard work. Also, providing robust mental health support, and encouraging strong social connections among staff, make for a solid teacher retention strategy.
If you’re a teacher, rest assured you are in high demand! (For those in south London, Croydon teacher jobs are in high supply). Your challenge, however, is to find a role that aligns with your expectations about pay, flexibility, location and other essentials. (We can help you with that!)
Teacher pay scales have increased following the government’s approval of a 5.5% pay raise for educators, effective from last September. That’s obviously good news and welcome in the midst of cost-of-living challenges.
Further ahead, the Department of Education indicated a 2.8% teacher pay increase is ‘appropriate’ for 2025-26. However, this has attracted criticism, as schools will need to contribute to this rise from their own budgets. Coupled with the National Insurance increase, budgeting could get even more tough.
For schools, cost management will become even more critical in 2025, with good reasons to look for new ways to streamline costs without affecting student outcomes. For teachers, it’s a reminder to stay informed about pay negotiations and budget changes that could impact your salary and classroom resources.
One of the landmark changes making the list of key school trends in 2025 is Ofsted’s changes to its inspection framework (which we’ve covered in detail here). Gone are those single-word grades such as 'outstanding' or 'inadequate'. Instead, schools are now assessed across four key judgment areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
Ofsted has also restructured ungraded inspections to focus on specific areas, without assigning individual grades. Safeguarding assessments have also been refined, now judged as either 'effective' or 'ineffective', with the possibility for schools to rectify small issues during the inspection process.
Are these changes a net positive for teachers and students? Only time will tell.
The number of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) increased by 101,000 from 2023, government data shows. The number of children on SEND Support who have no noted type of assessed need has increased by 7.1%.
Looking closer at the data, SEND is most prevalent at primary school age. The most common reason for SEND support is Speech, Language and Communication Needs, whilst Autism is the highest type of need for pupils with an EHCP.
For schools that provide for SEND children, budget pressures will only intensify in 2025 – and beyond. Local authorities are grappling with major deficits that are projected to reach up to £4.9 billion by 2026. DfE has a plan for improvement, but stakeholders remain sceptical about its effectiveness. This has led to the NAO calling for urgent action to focus investment on early intervention, inclusive education, and a whole-system approach to address escalating challenges for SEND children and schools.
The need to address mental health issues amongst both students and teaching staff in schools is an important one for schools and policymakers to tackle in 2025.
One recent study found that the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Implementation programme, which was launched in 2018 to improve mental health in primary and secondary school students, was successful in some respects, but there is a long way to go. Schools that can prioritise mental health support for staff are likely to see greater success.
Additionally, focusing on policies to support teachers’ mental health and well-being is also critical. We all know teaching can be demanding and without effective well-being strategies, educators may experience increased stress, leading to burnout and decreased engagement.
Mental health and wellbeing is an issue close to our hearts. For more advice on how to improve mental health amongst your teaching staff – or your own – read our article here.
In 2025, the UK’s education sector is undergoing significant shifts. Whilst challenges are on the horizon, so are opportunities for educators to thrive. With a few smarter strategies – new approaches to managing workloads and staffing and focusing on health and wellbeing –teachers and school leaders can embrace both the ups and downs!
At Future Education, we have 23 years of experience supporting the South London school community with passionate educators. For help with hiring for South London teacher jobs, or finding a role where you can make a difference, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us a message. We’d love to hear from you!
