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Teachers 'increasingly switching' to independent schools

Posted on 28th November 2008

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Teachers from the state sector are increasingly opting to transfer to independent schools, it has emerged.

New figures released by Professor Francis Green at the University of Kent indicate that this trend has dramatically increased in recent years.

Last year, 1,500 teachers opted to leave state schools for private institutions, up from just 400 in 1993, he told the Westminster Education Forum yesterday, suggesting that better conditions can be attributed to the popularity of working in independent schools.

Overall, approximately one in four of teachers currently working in private schools have been poached from the state sector, he noted.

Speaking in response to the findings master of Wellington College Anthony Seldon spoke of the attraction of parents to smaller class sizes in the private school sector.

"If you have fewer people in your class, it is surely better for contact and for marking homework," the Independent quoted him as stating.

The government was recently urged by Liberal Democrat school spokesman David Laws to ensure that the quality of teaching in the state sector matches that in independent schools.