Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe The rate of teachers quitting the FE sector has hit its lowest level in four years, data reveals. Analysis of the 2023-24 teaching workforce found 14.7 per cent left further education the following year. This was 1.9 percentage points lower than the previous year and the lowest “attrition rate” since 2019-20 when 14.5 per cent quit. Exit rates in FE had declined since a 2014-15 peak of 20.8 per cent until four years ago, when numbers began to trend upwards again. Michael Scott, senior economist at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), said the data suggests “some progress has been made in improving retention across the sector”. However, he added exit “rates remain stubbornly high, and it is clear much more needs to be done”. He called for more funding to improve salaries and action to reduce teacher workload. Just 8.7 per cent of those who left FE in 2024-25 were found to be working elsewhere in the education sector. This is a decrease of 2 percentage points on the previous cohort. Younger teachers, aged 29 and under, consistently make up the majority of FE leavers. In 2023-24 they accounted for 42 per cent of teachers exiting the sector. Pay goes up The data, collected through the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, shows the overall FE teacher headcount rose 2 per cent in 2024-25 year on year, reaching around 57,000. In 2024-25, the median full-time equivalent salary of a general FE college teacher was £38,813. This represented a 3.8 per cent pay rise on the previous year and a 10 per cent rise from 2022-23, when the median pay was £35,271. However, teachers at sixth form colleges still out-earn their FE college counterparts, reaching a median salary of £48,783 in 2024-25. The near £10,000 pay gap is the widest since this data was first recorded in 2002. Seven findings from DfE’s third FE workforce data release Newbies stay put Last year, the majority (88 per cent) of 7,500 teachers joining FE for the first time were recruited from outside the education sector. The data also found three quarters (75.5 per cent) of new teachers who joined in 2023-24 remained in their roles one year later. This is the highest one-year retention rate in 18 years since 2005-06 when the rate was 82.7 per cent. Regarding pay, new teachers at general FE colleges earned a median of £33,197 in 2024-25, while sixth form college teachers earned £42,964. This represents a 3.6 per cent increase for new general FE college teachers from the year prior, and a 14 per cent jump for sixth form teachers.