Analysis by the National Education Union shines a damning light on the performance of large multi-academy trusts (MATs).
New data from a freedom of information request reveals that local-authority maintained schools retain teachers better than academies and free schools. Using data gathered from all schools surveyed in the School Workforce Census for the past 10 years, the NEU has been able to develop a clear picture of the impact that large multi-academy trusts (MATs) are having on teacher retention.
The findings highlight an urgent need for greater accountability of MATs and for all academies to be required to follow national pay and conditions for staff.
What the FOI told us:
- Last academic year, large MATs saw 1 in 5 teachers leave their jobs and more than 1 in 9 teachers leave the teaching profession entirely. This compares poorly with local-authority maintained schools, where over the same period 1 in 7 teachers left their jobs and 1 in 11 teachers left the teaching profession.
- Among large MATs - defined as those containing at least 21 schools - the rate of leaving the profession has remained consistently higher than in other governance structures over the past 10 years.
- Free schools and academies have higher rates of teachers leaving the profession than local-authority maintained primary, secondary, and special schools. This is particularly noticeable in primary and special schools. In special free schools, the rate of teachers leaving the profession is an alarming 13.4 per cent, compared to 9.1 per cent in local authority maintained special schools.
- Among large MATs, several had retention rates of 75 per cent or lower at the end of the 2022-23 school year, meaning that at least a quarter of staff left schools in those MATs. The large MAT with the worst retention rate was Unity Schools Partnership (71.9 per cent), followed by RISE Multi Academy Trust (72.4 per cent), Harris Federation (72.5 per cent), ARK Schools (73.0 per cent), Reach2 Academy Trust (74.1 per cent), The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust (74.2 per cent), E-ACT (74.5 per cent), and The White Horse Federation (74.9 per cent).
- While there is a crisis in retention across the sector as a whole, retention rates are lowest among schools in large MATs, highlighting the need for focus on the teachers working in these settings. (1)
What members told us:
In addition to our FOI analysis, findings from the National Education Union’s annual State of Education survey of 13,000 teacher members are being released over the course of the union’s Annual Conference this week in Harrogate. (2)
One of the key drivers of teachers leaving the profession is workload. According to the government’s own research for 2024, full-time teachers typically work 51.2 hours per week and leaders 57.6 hours per week. The TUC’s annual survey for Work Your Proper Hours Day finds that 38 per cent of teachers are doing unpaid overtime, and that it is the profession most likely to do so.
The human impact of heavy workload is most immediately felt in terms of work/life balance. As part of the State of Education survey, we asked teachers in England’s state schools how often the following occurrences have a negative impact on their work/life balance:
When broken down by governance type:
- 67 per cent of teachers in large MATs say they ‘often’ or ‘always’ have to work evenings, compared to 59 per cent of teachers in local-authority maintained schools.
- Teachers in large MATs are significantly more likely to work weekends. 61 per cent state they do so ‘often’ or ‘always’, compared to 53 per cent in maintained schools and a 54 per cent average across all governance types.
- 41 per cent of teachers working in large MATs will ‘often’ or ‘always’ cancel plans in their home life so as to catch up with workload. The lowest levels are in local-authority maintained schools and single academies (35 per cent apiece).
These trends held even when controlling for phase and gender.
Commenting on the findings, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“A myth has emerged in recent months that academies are a more attractive prospect for teachers because of flexibilities around pay and conditions. Evidence collected by the NEU shows the exact opposite to be the case. Far from being better places to work, our research reveals large MATs are havens for higher workload and poorer work-life balance for their staff.
“These findings underline the importance of ensuring that academies are brought into a national system of pay and conditions. This will ensure a level playing field for staff and make a real difference to addressing the root causes of the recruitment and retention crisis.
“Currently, England has the biggest crisis in the recruitment and retention of teachers for more than 20 years. We must do all that we can to fix it. That includes employers as well as government. Today’s findings must act as a wake-up call to large MATs that they are contributing to the problem, and a culture change is urgently required.”
Editor’s Note
1. The data relating to the retention rates in MATs is available as a download.
On average academies pay their classroom teachers less than maintained schools:
- Primary £772 less (Academies: £40,279 versus Maintained: £41,052)
- Secondary £629 less (Academies: £44,201 versus Maintained: £44,830)
A mixed picture for head teachers:
- Primary academies pay £638 more (Academies: £74,165 versus Maintained: £73,527)
- Secondary academies pay £2,469 less (Academies: £102,597 versus Maintained: £105,066)
2. The online survey of National Education Union members was conducted between 28 January – 9 February 2025.
We received responses from teachers, support staff and other members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The data in this release focuses on the responses from 13,090 teachers in English state schools, reweighted by personal and professional characteristics in line with data from the most recent School Workforce Census.