School Workforce Census results: as at November 2020 (revised)

These are experimental statistics and the data in this report relates to information collected in the second School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC) for Wales as at November 2020. This report covers a time period during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has affected how schools have operated. As a result this may have an effect on the statistics presented in the statistical release. 

For the November 2020 School Workforce Census publication, we have introduced two new measures to help communicate the distribution of the school workforce. These two measures are the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) and the Full-Person Equivalent (FPE). Both the FTE and the FPE take into account that an individual may work in more than role. These measures differ to the Headcount (first published for the November 2019 dataset) which counts individuals in their highest (most senior) role only.

For this publication, the FPE has been used to show a breakdown of the school workforce by staff category. The FTE has been used to show a breakdown of the workforce by staff category and sex. The headcount has been used to present data relating to staff category, sex, other equality characteristics (including age range, ethnicity, national identity and disability status), and Welsh language.. Data relating to teacher pay uses the FTE and a count of individuals on each pay range.

Individuals that were recorded as being on a long-term absence against their ’Status’ and individuals with zero full-time equivalence against their role(s) have been excluded from the headcount calculations for 2020.

Due to these changes, 2020 figures presented from the SWAC School return are not directly comparable to figures published for 2019. Our ‘School Workforce Annual Census: quality report’ report provides further detail of the changes made and comparability with information published previously. Annual comparisons are able to be drawn from the pay data which is calculated from a separate return (SWAC HR, Pay and Absences).

For these reasons, data published in the ‘School Census Results’ statistical release derived using information from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) should continue to be used as the official statistics on the school workforce, and used for comparisons over time. Once the quality of the data collected through SWAC has been assured and any differences explained this release will provide the official statistics on the school workforce in Wales.

This release and accompanying StatsWales tables and dashboard include more detailed information on the school workforce in Wales, including data broken down by local authority, sector and other characteristics.

(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Teachers (Full-Person Equivalent (FPE)) by staff category

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Teachers (School Workforce Annual Census) on StatsWales

• At November 2020, there were 25,930 (r) teaching staff in local authority maintained schools in Wales.
• The majority of teaching staff worked in primary schools (49.1%) or secondary schools (41.6%).
• The majority of teachers worked as qualified classroom teachers (b) (83.0%) with a smaller proportion of teachers working in leadership roles (a) (13.3%) or other teaching roles (c) (3.7%).

(a) Includes Executive headteachers, Headteachers, Acting headteachers, Deputy headteachers and Assistant headteachers.
(b) Includes Leading practitioners, Qualified classroom teachers and Teachers of the deaf.
(c) Includes Unqualified teachers, Other teachers (not QTS), Permanent/Contracted supply teachers and Trainees on Initial Teacher Education.
(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Teachers (Full-Time Equivalent) by staff category and sex

• Across all teaching staff, 79.7% worked full-time and 20.3% worked part-time
• Of those in leadership roles (a), 93.4% (r) worked full-time compared to 76.7% of those in non-leadership roles (b,c).
• There was a higher proportion of males working full-time (92.7%) than females (75.3%).
• The proportion of female teachers working full-time ranged from 74.2% in primary schools to 81.6% in special schools.

(a) Includes Executive headteachers, Headteachers, Acting headteachers, Deputy headteachers and Assistant headteachers.
(b) Includes Leading practitioners, Qualified classroom teachers and Teachers of the deaf.
(c) Includes Unqualified teachers, Other teachers (not QTS), Permanent/Contracted supply teachers and Trainees on Initial Teacher Education.
(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Teachers (headcount) by sex, age, ethnicity and disability status

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Teachers (School Workforce Annual Census) on StatsWales

• Of all teachers in maintained local authority settings, 74.9% were female. 
• The split of teachers by sex varied across sector with 83.2% of all teachers in primary schools being female, compared to 66.2% in secondary schools.
• Females accounted for 66.6% of headteachers (including executive heads and acting heads) in primary schools and 34.1% in secondary schools.
• Overall, the highest proportion of teachers were aged between 40 and 49 (33.1%). This is consistent for primary, secondary schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRU) ranging from 32.9% to 42.6%. In nursery, middle and special schools the highest proportion of teachers were aged 30 to 39 ranging from 28.2% to 32.6%.
• Teachers aged under 25 accounted for 3.5% of all teachers, and ranged from 1.8% in special schools to 4.5% in middle schools.
• Teachers identifying as White-British accounted for 95.8% of all teachers in maintained local authority settings in Wales.
• Of the total number of teachers 0.7% declared having a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more.

• Of all teachers in local authority maintained settings, 31.2% reported their Welsh language ability as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Proficient’.
• The proportion of teachers who reported their Welsh language ability as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Proficient’ varied by sector, ranging from 12.6% in PRU’s to 51.3% in Middle schools - this reflects the higher proportion of middle schools that are categorised as Welsh medium or bilingual schools. The proportion in primary and secondary schools were 33.1% and 28.3% respectively.
• The proportion of teachers who reported their Welsh language ability as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Proficient’ but were not working through the medium of Welsh was 15.2% (12.4% in primary schools and 19.0% (r) in secondary schools).

(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Information relating to teachers’ pay (including average salary and distribution across pay ranges) are based on information submitted in the SWAC Pay, HR and Absences return.  Records from this return were linked to the SWAC School return to provide a breakdown by school sector (i.e. primary, secondary etc).  Where no corresponding record was identified in the SWAC School return their sector has been recorded as ‘Other’. For this reason, total numbers for data on teachers’ pay will not equal the totals for data on teacher characteristics above (see the ‘School Workforce Annual Census: quality report’ report for further details).

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Teachers' pay on StatsWales

• Of all teachers in maintained local authority settings, 23.1% were on the main pay range and 61.6% on the upper pay range. A further 13.8% of teachers were on the leadership pay range. The distribution of teaching staff by pay range is largely unchanged from the previous year (November 2019).
• The average (mean) full-time equivalent (FTE) salary for all teachers in local authority maintained settings was £41,500. This is an increase of 3.5% on the average salary recorded for 2019.
• Classroom teachers across all sectors received an average FTE salary of £38,453. The mean FTE salary varied within sectors with primary school classroom teachers receiving an average salary of £38,253 compared to £38,619 for secondary school classroom teachers.
• Headteachers (including executive headteachers) received an average salary of £68,079 compared to £60,272 (r) for all teachers in leadership posts.
• The average FTE salary for headteachers in primary schools was £63,439 compared to £92,327 for headteachers in secondary schools.

(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Support staff (Full-Person Equivalent) by staff category

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Support staff (School Workforce Annual Census) on StatsWales

• At November 2020, there were 29,055 (r) support staff in local authority maintained schools in Wales.
• The majority of support staff worked in primary schools (63.0%) (r) or secondary schools (23.4%) (r).
• There was a greater proportion of support staff working in teaching assistant roles (a) (55.2%) (r) compared to other support staff roles (b) (44.8%) (r).

(a) Includes Teaching assistant, Higher level teaching assistant and Foreign language assistant.
(b) Includes SEN coordinators, SEN support staff, School business managers, Pastoral support staff, ICT staff, Administration staff, Science and Laboratory technicians, Librarians and Library assistants, Matrons/Nurses/Medical staff, Exam officers/Invigilators, Midday supervisors, Advisory staff and Other support staff.
(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Support staff (Full-Time Equivalent) by staff category and sex

• Across all support staff, 37.1% (r) worked full-time and 62.9% (r) worked part-time.
• Of those in teaching assistant roles (a), 34.1% worked full-time compared to 35.8% (r) of those in other support staff roles (b).
• There was a higher proportion of males working full-time (56.0%) (r) than females (35.2%) (r).
• The proportion of female support staff working full-time ranged from 28.6% (r) in primary schools to 67.1% (r) in PRUs.

(a) Includes Teaching assistant, Higher level teaching assistant and Foreign language assistant.
(b) Includes SEN coordinators, SEN support staff, School business managers, Pastoral support staff, ICT staff, Administration staff, Science and Laboratory technicians, Librarians and Library assistants, Matrons/Nurses/Medical staff, Exam officers/Invigilators, Midday supervisors, Advisory staff and Other support staff.
(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

Support staff (headcount) by sex, age, ethnicity and disability status

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Support staff (School Workforce Annual Census) on StatsWales

• Of all support staff in maintained local authority settings in Wales, 90.9% (r) were female. The proportion of support staff which was female ranged from 78.9% (r) in PRU’s to 98.7% in nursery schools. Females accounted for 96.1% (r) of support staff in primary schools and 79.9% (r) in secondary schools.
• The highest proportion of support staff in all local authority settings in Wales were aged between 50 and 59 (29.0%).
• This varies across school phases. The highest proportion of support staff was aged 30 to 39 in PRU’s (27.3%), aged 40 to 49 in primary schools (28.8%) (r) and middle schools (26.7%) (r) and aged 50 to 59 in nursery schools (31.6%), secondary school (31.5%) (r) and special schools (25.6%) (r).
• Support staff identifying as White-British accounted for 94.2% of all support staff in maintained local authority settings in Wales.
• Of the total number of support staff 1.1% declared having a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more.

(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

• Of all support staff in local authority maintained settings, 17.3% (r) reported their Welsh language ability as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Proficient’.
• The proportion of support staff who reported their Welsh language ability as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Proficient’ varied by sector, from 8.9% (r) in special schools to 32.5% (r) in middle schools. The proportion in primary and secondary schools were 18.2% (r) and 16.3% (r) respectively.

(r) Revised on 16 September 2021.

The statistics in this headline are based on information collected in the second SWAC collection and are published as ‘experimental statistics’.  The information collected for 2020 has not undergone a formal final validation process. However, various stages of automated validation and sense-checking are built into the process to ensure a high quality of data to inform policy making.

Our ‘School Workforce Annual Census: quality report’ report provides further detail of quality and methodology information.

Statistician: Gareth Thomas
Telephone: 0300 025 0166
Email: educationworkforcedata@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

SFR 253/2021(R)