Streamlining job roles could support recruitment and retention in FE

Analysis by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) provides fresh insight into the structure and characteristics of the further education (FE) workforce and suggests that greater consistency in job roles may help address long-standing recruitment and retention challenges.

Drawing on data from the Further Education Workforce Data Collection (FEWDC), the Gatsby-commissioned report examines a range of roles recorded by general FE colleges in the FEWDC and analyses these in line with a streamlined FE workforce role structure first introduced in the York Consulting report ‘Research into technical education teaching roles’. By consolidating numerous FEWDC roles into a streamlined structure the report investigates how the FE education workforce can be better understood and supported.

This new analysis from NFER finds that FE teachers make up just over half of the workforce in scope of the study. Many FE staff are relatively new to their current roles, with nearly a quarter having been in post for less than a year. A large proportion of staff work part-time—around two in five teachers.

This could at least in part reflect teachers working in both FE and industry as dual professionals. A higher proportion of part-time working is found among support staff. Most of the FE teacher workforce is over 30 years old, with a notable proportion approaching retirement age. The median annualised full-time equivalent earnings for FE teachers was found to be £34,875.

These features stand in contrast to the school teaching workforce where around one in five secondary school classroom teachers work part-time, the workforce is younger on average, and median earnings are higher, at £44,643.

The report also highlights the variety in how roles are defined and deployed across colleges. Using the streamlined York Consulting role structure, most colleges report employing Teachers, Support Staff, Technicians and Programme Leaders, other roles—such as Course Leaders, Trainers, Instructors and Expert Teachers—are only present in a subset of providers. Similar variation is evident within teaching sub-roles, including Tutors, Advanced Practitioners and Practitioners, even where staff may be carrying out broadly similar functions.

These findings suggest there may be merit in a more streamlined and consistent approach to how job roles are defined and structured across the sector. Greater consistency could help make career pathways clearer and support more targeted professional development support. In turn, this may strengthen retention by making progression opportunities more visible and accessible.

“Clearer understanding of FE roles will improve our analysis of shortages across the sector. It can also help shape both initial and continuous teacher education, and the support put in place to help individuals who are moving between roles.”

Jenifer Burden, Director of Programmes, Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Read the full report, Investigating job roles in the further education workforce