HC Deb 28 February 1978 vol 945 cc144-6W
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers in England and Wales left the profession in each of the past 10 years (a) to retire and (b) to take up other jobs; and what estimates she has made of the number of teachers eligible to retire for the next 10 years.

Miss Margaret Jackson

The number of full-time teachers leaving maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and maintained, assisted and grant-aided further education establishments—including colleges of education—in each of the 10 latest years for which information is available was as follows:

Year ending 31 March
1967 29,800*
1968 31,400*
1969 32,658
1970 32,991
1971 34,413
1972 35,473
1973 36,767
1974 40,392
1975 45,146
1976 39,772
* Estimated

Information is not available on their reasons for leaving. However, the number of age pensions awarded to teachers in the same period was as follows:

Year ending 31 March
1967 6,923
1968 7,128
1969 7,796
1970 7,017
1971 7,010
1972 6,749
1973 7,318
1974 8,669
1975 8,918
1976 8,223

The figures include a small number of pensions awarded under the teachers superannuation regulations to teachers in special, direct grant and independent schools who are not separately identified in the Department's records. They also include pensions paid for the first time in the year shown to people who had retired in a previous year and frozen their pension until normal retirement age.

Due to teachers leaving the profession before reaching 60 it is difficult to estimate precisely the number of teachers in service eligible to retire over the next 10 years. On 31st March 1976, 17,077 full-time teachers in regular service in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and in maintained, assisted and grant-aided further education establishments—including former colleges of education—were aged 60 and over, and 77,100 were between 50 and 59 years of age.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers in England Wales returned to the profession in each of the past 10 years after occupying other jobs; what estimate she has made of the number for the current year; and what estimates she has of the number of ex-teachers who might wish to return to teaching in each of the next three years.

Miss Margaret Jackson

The number of teachers who returned to full-time service in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and maintained, assisted and grant-aided further education establishments—including colleges of education—in each of the 10 latest years for which information is available was as follows:

Year ending 31st March
1967 10,531
1968 11,393
1969 11,775
1970 12,801
1971 14,430
1972 14,050
1973 14,696
1974 16,772
1975 15,474
1976 14,073

Financial years (£000)
1976–77(a) 1977–78(b)
Nursery Total expenditure Nursery Total expenditure
Avon 1,007 98,185 967 108,479
Cornwall 162 38,333 219 44,775
Devon 263 86,485 308 94,702
Dorset 110 57,089 120 64,186
Gloucestershire* (c) 56,009 (c) 61,141
Somerset 66 41,663 72 45,614
Wiltshire 12 57,102 17 62,283
(a) 1976–77 estimates at 1976 survey prices.
(b) 1977–78 estimates at 1977 survey prices.
(c) Not published.
* In July 1976 Gloucestershire closed its only nursery school but expenditure was incurred on staff and premises.

Information is not available about how many of these returned after occupying other jobs. It is estimated that the potential re-entrants to the above educational sectors this year and in the next three years will be of the order of 15,000 to 20,000 per annum.