Background
While the government projects a retention increase of 2,500 teachers by 2028 , the sector remains in a ‘supply crisis‘. Despite additional payments, 1 in 3 teachers continue to leave the state-funded sector within their first five years.
Early career teacher (ECT) retention is a concern, and the government is expecting this to improve.
This analysis evaluates ECT retention against other front-line sectors and international benchmarks to identify the drivers of attrition
Comparisons
Teaching, nursing and police are all front-line workers, in England and Wales (E&W) they are largely state funded. Table 1 provides a summary of typical time it takes to qualify, pay and retention rates for these groups.
Table 1 – First 5-Year Pay & Retention
| Sector | Time take to qualify | Pay Range in first 5 years | Up to 1 year retention | 1 to 5 year retention |
| Teaching E&W | 4 years (3 year degree and 1 year PGCE) | £33,000 to £42,000 | 85 to 90% | 67% – 70% (HoC, 2025) |
| Nursing E&W | 3 years degree | £32,000 to £39,000 | No published data | 67% (RCN, 2025 p15) |
| Policing E&W | 2 years | £31,164 to £37,737 Police, 2025a) | 87% | 81% (Police, 2025b) |
Despite longer qualification periods, ECTs often earn £4,000 more annually after five years than police constables, yet retention rates remain significantly lower than in policing
Circa 33% of both ECTs and band 5 nurses (starting point for fully qualified nurses) leave their professions within the first five years. On the face of it, ECTs and nurses retention is similar, yet promotion through nursing pay scales are more challenging with a third of nurses remaining at band 5 for up to 7 years. (RCN, 2025 p6). In stark contrast only 19% of newly qualified police officers typically leave in in the first 5 years (Police, 2025b).
Which appears to suggest the police are far better at retaining their newly qualified officers beyond the first 5 years, even though they are paid less than both nurses and teachers. It should be noted that whilst the percentage of newly qualified police officers leaving in the first 5 years is low when compared the number of recruits, 72% of all police officers leaving via “voluntary resignation” were newer officers with less than 5 years’ service (Gov, 2024).
The UK’s 33% five-year attrition rate, while high, is notably lower than the 44% reported for early-career teachers in the United States (Ingersoll et al., 2021).
The gap
Crucially newly qualified nurses and police in E&W and teachers in the U.S are asked why they leave (Table 2 for a list of their reasons for leaving), Yet teachers in the UK have not been canvassed for this since 2018 (Gov, 2018). The report states several reasons for Leaving Teaching e.g. workload, stress and ill health, school leadership, policy and approaches etc.
Unlike nursing and policing, the UK lacks a systematic process for recording why 33% of ECTs leave the profession. These leavers are rarely canvassed by schools, unions, or the government.
Call to action
Mandate ECT bodies to record reasons for departure within the first two years and standardise DfE-recorded exit interviews for all relocating or resigning teachers
Table 2 – Reasons for leaving
| Nursing (England and Wales) (NMC, 2025) | Police (England and Wales) (Gov, 2024) | U.S ECT (Ingersoll et al., 2021) |
| Retirement My physical or mental health Burnout or exhaustion A change in personal circumstances Concern about meeting the revalidation requirements leaving/have left the UK Other Quality of care provided to members of the public and people who use services Lack of support from colleagues or senior members of staff Experiences of bullying, harassment, or discrimination | Voluntary resignation Dismissal and contract termination (including voluntary exit schemes) Medical retirement Normal Retirement Death | Poor Salary/Benefits Student Discipline Problems Dissatisfied with Administration Poor Facilities & Resources Lack of Influence and Autonomy Dissatisfied with Teaching Assignment Dissatisfied with Accountability/Testing Inadequate Prof Dev. Opportunities Classroom Intrusions Class Sizes too Large |
Left behind career progression | Publications | Royal College of Nursing. 2025. The Royal College of Nursing. https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/rcn-left-behind-nurse-career-progression-uk-pub-012-359.
Police (2025a). Retrieved 1 April 2026, from https://polfed.org/resources/pay-scales/constable-pay-scales/
Police (2025b) Retrieved 1 April 2026, from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/697255e4d8adeaf266040568/open-data-table-police-workforce-joiners-280126.ods
HoC (2025) Retrieved 1 April 2026, from https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7222/)
Ingersoll, R., Merrill, E., Stuckey, D., Collins, G., & Harrison, B. (2021). The Demographic Transformation of the Teaching Force in the United States. Education Sciences, 11(5), 234. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11050234
Gov (2024). Retrieved 1 April 2026, from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2024/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2024#chapter4
NMC (2025). Retrieved 1 April 2026, from https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/data-reports/march-2025/professionals-who-left-the-nmc-register-in-2024-2025.pdf
Gov (2018). Retrieved 1 Apr 2026, from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5aa15d24e5274a53c0b29341/Factors_affecting_teacher_retention_-_qualitative_investigation.pdf