How has the number of teachers changed under Labour?

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch have clashed over how the number of teachers has changed under Labour, in an exchange at Wednesday’s PMQs.

Mr Starmer claimed that the number of teachers in England is “more than when the Conservatives left office”. This isn’t supported by the latest school workforce census figures, which show a fall, not a rise.

Mrs Badenoch claimed there are “now 400 fewer teachers” since the election. It’s true the figures do show there were 400 fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers overall in England’s state funded schools in November 2024 (around four months after Labour took office) compared to November 2023 (around eight months before Labour took office).

But the timeframe of this data doesn’t necessarily give us a good picture of how the number of teachers has changed since Labour took office, and we don’t know how these numbers have changed in the year since November 2024.

The figures show that in November 2024 there were 468,258 FTE qualified and unqualified teachers in state-funded nurseries, primary, secondary and special schools, and Pupil Referral Units. This figure also includes some teachers who are directly employed by local authorities.

Overall, factoring in all kinds of teachers, there was a net fall of around 400 FTE teachers.

The number of both secondary, and special and Pupil Referral Unit, school teachers increased compared to November 2023, by 1,400 and 900 respectively, while the number of nursery and primary school teachers decreased by 2,900.

The total headcount of teachers also decreased, by around 500.

It’s worth noting that the government has said its pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers includes secondary and special schools, but not primary schools, so it’s possible Mr Starmer was referring to the increase in secondary and special school teachers. The 2,300 increase in secondary and special school teachers seen in the above figures was highlighted in a government press release last week, and reported comments after PMQs from the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson appear to suggest this is what Mr Starmer was referring to.

But Ms Badenoch’s question referred to teachers in general and Mr Starmer didn’t say he was only talking about a specific group in his response.

It’s worth noting that education is devolved, and the UK government is only responsible for state funded schools in England.