Teacher numbers in England rise by 4,654
Education minister Georgia Gould gave the figures in a written answer about teacher retention in North Shropshire, where the local authority’s teacher numbers rose from 2,131 to 2,137.
The number of teachers has risen by 4,654 in a year, taking the government more than 71% of the way to its target of 6,500 additional teachers, education minister Georgia Gould has said.
Gould gave the figures on 18 September in a written parliamentary answer to Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, who represents North Shropshire and had asked what assessment the department had made of teacher retention in the area and its impact on schools.
In the Shropshire local authority, Gould said, teacher numbers had “increased slightly year on year”, from 2,131 in 2024-25 to 2,137 in 2025-26.
Nationally, the increase of 4,654 includes 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools and 1,646 more in further education, the minister said.
The figures come from the school workforce census, which covers publicly funded schools in England, according to the Department for Education.
The latest School Workforce Census recorded the lowest rate of teachers leaving outside the pandemic, at 8.5%, and a record 17,740 returning to the classroom, Gould said.
School teachers’ pay would have risen by 17% by September 2027 “since this government took power”, the minister said, and the government was also acting on pupil behaviour, workload and wellbeing “to encourage even more teachers to stay in the profession”.
The answer does not give a separate figure for the North Shropshire constituency, or an assessment of the impact on its schools.
