School Workforce Census results: as at November 2021

These are experimental statistics relating to information collected in the School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC) for Wales at November 2021. The SWAC collects information on teachers and support staff in local authority maintained schools in Wales.

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of teachers and support staff working in local authority-maintained schools has increased (by 2.6% and 3.4% respectively). These increases may be due to Welsh Government funding provided to schools to recruit extra staff to support pupils during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This statistical release includes previously unpublished data items (additional payments and subjects taught) and new items collected in 2021 (recruitment and retention and teacher sickness absences). The accompanying StatsWales tables and dashboards include more detailed information on the school workforce, including breakdowns by local authority and sector.

At this time, the Pupil Level School Census (PLASC) should continue to be used as the official source of statistics on the school workforce. Once SWAC data has been fully quality assured, SWAC will replace the workforce elements of PLASC.

Please see School Workforce Annual Census: quality report for more details on the SWAC collection and comparison of data items collected in SWAC and PLASC (relating to qualified teachers, teacher sickness absence and teacher recruitment and retention).

Roles

• In November 2021, there were 26,600 teachers in local authority maintained schools in Wales, an increase of 2.6% on November 2020.
• The full-time equivalence ^{[footnote 1]} of all teachers was 24,700, up 3.0% on 2020.
• Based on the full-person equivalent ^{[footnote 2]}, 22,345 teachers (84.0%) worked as a qualified classroom teacher.
• Most teachers worked in Primary schools (49.0%) or Secondary schools (41.6%).

Characteristics

• 19,815 teachers (74.5%) were female. Females accounted for 64.4% of teachers in leadership ^{[footnote 3]}.
• There was a greater proportion of female teachers in Primary schools (83.0%) compared to Secondary schools (65.4%).
• 15,960 teachers (60.0%) identified as Welsh.
• 305 teachers (1.1%) were of Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnicity ^{[footnote 4]}. There was a smaller proportion of teachers from an ethnic minority background in leadership (0.5%).
• 180 teachers (0.7%) reported having a physical or mental health condition expected to last 12 months or more.

Welsh language

• 6,635 teachers (24.9%) were teaching/working through the medium of Welsh in their current post, with a further 1,665 (6.3%) able to teach/work through the medium of Welsh but not doing so in their current post.
• 10,335 teachers (38.9%) reported having Welsh skills at intermediate level or above ^{[footnote 5]}. The proportion varied between sectors, from 31.9% in Secondary schools to 44.8% in Primary schools. At the local authority level, the proportion ranged from 11.4% in Blaenau Gwent to 93.1% in Isle of Anglesey.

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Subjects taught

This data reflects subjects taught to pupils in years 7 to 13 in a typical two-week timetable.

• The greatest proportion of schools’ timetable was spent teaching Mathematics (13.5%), English (12.9%), Science ^{[footnote 6]} (10.2%), Welsh (7.3%) and Physical Education (6.7%).
• On average, 1 in 5 teaching hours (21.0%) were taught bilingually or through the medium of Welsh.
• Individuals teaching Mathematics spent the greatest proportion of their timetable teaching that subject (83.5% ^{[footnote 7]}). This was followed by English (78.8%), Welsh (76.2%) and Modern Foreign Languages (75.5%).

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Recruitment and retention

Data relates to the 2020/21 academic year.

• On average, 10.3 applications were received per post advertised. The average was lower for Welsh medium posts (3.9) compared to English medium posts (13.5). The average was also lower for Secondary school posts (5.6) compared to Primary school posts (18.7).
• At the end of the academic year, 1,383 of posts advertised were filled (78.8%).
• Of the 1,045 teachers that left the profession, 335 (23.4%) retired (at normal or early retirement age).

Pay and allowances

• The full-time equivalence (FTE) of all teachers was 25,820, with 15,310 (59.3%) paid on the upper pay range.
• The average (mean) FTE salary of all teachers was £42,080, an increase of £582 (1.4%) on 2020.
• Classroom teachers received an average salary of £39,009. Average classroom teacher salary ranged from £38,812 in Primary schools to £39,297 in Secondary schools.
• The average salary of headteachers ^{[footnote 8]} was considerably higher in Secondary schools (£95,646) compared to Primary schools (£65,102).
• On average, males were paid £2,217 more than females.
• Between November 2020 and 2021, 8,360 teachers (29.1%) received a Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) allowance with an average value of £4,737.

Source: SWAC HR, Pay and Absences

(a) Includes executive headteacher
(b) Includes acting, deputy and assistant headteacher

Sickness absence

Data relates to 2020/21 academic year ^{[footnote 9]}.

• 17,475 sickness absence records were opened or closed during the year.
• 10,285 teachers (40.0%) took at least one period of sickness absence.
• An average of 7.0 working days were lost per absence.

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Roles

• In November 2021, there were 30,035 support staff, an increase of 3.4% on November 2020.
• The full-time equivalence ^{[footnote 10]} of all support staff was 23,300, up 4.1%.
• Based on the full-person equivalent ^{[footnote 11]}, 15,130 support staff (50.4%) worked as a teaching assistant, with a further 1,590 (5.3%) working as a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA).
• Most support staff worked in Primary schools (62.4%) or Secondary schools (23,7%).

Characteristics

• 27,125 support staff (90.3%) were female, compared to 74.5% of teachers.
• 16,575 support staff (55.2%) identified as Welsh.
• 760 support staff (2.5%) were of Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnicity ^{[footnote 4]}, compared to 1.1% of teachers.
• 365 support staff (1.2%) reported having a physical or mental health condition expected to last 12 months or more.

Welsh language

• 6,255 support staff (20.8%) reported having Welsh skills at intermediate level or above ^{[footnote 5]}, compared to 38.9% of teachers.
• The proportion of support staff with Welsh skills at intermediate level or above ^{[footnote 5]} ranged from 2.8% in Blaenau Gwent to 84.3% in Gwynedd.

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Recruitment and retention

This data relates to teaching assistants, higher level teaching assistants, foreign language assistants, Additional Learning Need (ALN) / Special Education Needs (SEN) coordinators and ALN / SEN support staff only for 2020/21.

• On average, 7.4 applications were received per post advertised. The average was lower for Welsh medium posts (3.0) compared to English medium posts (10.3). The average was also lower for Secondary school posts (3.0) compared to Primary school posts (10.0).
• At the end of the academic year, 855 (74.1%) of posts advertised were filled.
• Of the 1,070 support staff that left the profession, 235 (22.1%) moved to employment outside of education.

The information collected in 2021 has not undergone a formal final validation process. However, various stages of automated validation and sense-checking have been built in to ensure the collection of high-quality data to inform policy making.

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

[1] The full-time equivalent is the proportion of full-contract time spent in a role. An individual working one day a week in a leadership role and one day a week in a classroom teacher role would be recorded as 0.2 against each role.
[2] The full-person equivalent is the proportion of working time spent in a role. The above individual would be recorded as 0.5 against each role.
[3] Including executive headteachers, headteachers, acting headteachers, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers.
[4] Including Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, Asian/Asian British, Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups and Other ethnic groups.
[5] Includes intermediate, advanced and proficient Welsh skills based on the ‘Welsh Language Competency Framework for Education Practitioners’.
[6] Science excludes Biology, Chemistry and Physics where they are taught as separate subjects.
[7] This is the full-person equivalent divided by the headcount. The greater the similarity between the headcount and full-person equivalent, the greater the proportion of time individuals spend teaching that subject. If an individual spends a high proportion of time teaching a particular subject, they may be more likely to be a specialist in that subject.
[8] Includes executive headteacher.
[9] Processes for recording COVID-19 related absences vary by local authority. For this reason, 2020/21 data may include some COVID-19 related absences.
[10] The full-time equivalent is the proportion of full-contract time spent in a role. An individual working one day a week in a teaching assistant role and one day a week in a SEN/ALN support staff role would be recorded as 0.2 against each role.
[11] The full-person equivalent is the proportion of working time spent in a role. The above individual would be recorded as 0.5 against each role.

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

Media: 0300 025 8099

SFR 161/2022