Building a Resilient School Workforce: Why the Candidate Relationship Matters

Behind every staffing statistic is a person: a teacher deciding whether to remain in the profession, a teaching assistant looking for progression, a graduate considering a career in education or an experienced professional seeking a flexible return to the classroom.

The latest Department for Education workforce data underlines the importance of engaging those people well. Around nine in ten newly qualified teachers remain in state-funded schools one year after qualification, but the system still recorded 38,632 full-time equivalent qualified teachers leaving during the year. Meanwhile, schools are relying more heavily on short-term flexibility, with the reported number of occasional teachers on census day rising from 17,700 in 2024 to 20,500 in 2025.

Recruitment cannot be separated from retention. If schools want a resilient workforce, the candidate experience must form part of the strategy.

People are not interchangeable bookings

Strategic recruitment should widen the routes into education while maintaining high standards. Alongside experienced teachers, schools may need teaching assistants, cover supervisors, behaviour specialists, SEND practitioners, technicians, administrators and other non-teaching professionals.

There is also an opportunity to engage graduates, career changers, returners and people with transferable experience. With careful screening, realistic role information and appropriate support, these candidates can become valuable members of a school workforce.

This approach is especially important in SEND and specialist settings, where aptitude, resilience and relationship-building skills can be as important as a conventional career path.

Creating a dedicated workforce around your schools

Schools Mutual Services works with schools and trusts to build dedicated talent pools shaped around local requirements. This can include:

• mapping recurring and hard-to-fill roles;
• recruiting ahead of predicted demand;
• introducing candidates to the values and expectations of partner schools;
• gathering feedback after placements;
• supporting candidate wellbeing and ongoing engagement;
• identifying successful temporary staff for future or permanent opportunities; and
• using workforce information to refine the recruitment plan.

The result is a supply bank that becomes more knowledgeable and effective over time, rather than starting again with every booking.

Ethical employment supports better outcomes

SMS is the not-for-profit supply organisation owned by schools, for schools. Our model is built around transparent pricing, fair treatment and reinvestment in education rather than shareholder return.

We engage candidates through PAYE, operate with a cap on margins and support fair pay and employment practices. This is not separate from service quality; it helps create it. Candidates who feel respected, well informed and properly supported are more likely to remain engaged and represent schools positively.

SMS is also an approved supplier on the Government Commercial Agency Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework, RM6376. Schools and trusts can therefore access our service through a compliant route with recognised safeguarding, transparency and contractual standards.

Our agreed rates are up to 50% lower than the published framework rates, depending on the role and assignment. This enables schools to pursue strong candidate care and quality while also protecting increasingly stretched budgets.

A workforce strategy built for the future

No recruitment partner can remove every pressure facing education. But the right partnership can reduce repeated firefighting, improve visibility, strengthen local candidate networks and give leaders greater confidence in their workforce decisions.

The strongest supply model is not built around filling today’s absence at any cost. It is built around creating the relationships, intelligence and capacity that schools will need tomorrow.

Speak to Schools Mutual Services about building a dedicated, quality-assured workforce bank for your school or trust – and putting people, pupils and public value first