Schools called upon to use free service that could save money

Over half thirds of Gloucestershire schools already signed-up to the Department for Education’s Teaching Vacancies service

Schools across Gloucestershire are being urged to sign-up and use the Department for Education (DfE)’s free job search and listings service, Teaching Vacancies, which launched in April 2019 to help schools and teachers with recruitment.

While the area already has almost over half (57%) of schools using Teaching Vacancies, more cost savings could be made when all Gloucestershire schools sign up. Teaching Vacancies was developed in response to demand from Headteachers’ to address the expenditure of up to £75 million that was being spent on teacher recruitment advertising. By using the service, schools can save money on teacher recruitment advertising so that they can reinvest it where it counts most - in the classroom.

With the service used by job-seeking teachers across the country, Teaching Vacancies is helping schools attract new talent into the region with any advertised roles visible to job-seeking teachers nationally. By using Teaching Vacancies, schools are in control of their own recruitment, with the ability to post as many times as they want and directly upload and edit their adverts free of charge. The ‘Manage your Job’ facility helpfully allows schools to monitor the success of their advert, tracking how many people have viewed the role and the overall outcome.

The service is also ideal for job-seeking teachers in the South West, particularly those looking to work flexibly. Over 1 in 5 (22%) of all jobs advertised in the region to date have been listed with flexible working as an option; in Gloucestershire this rises to over 1 in 4 (27%). Anyone looking for their next move – or their first teaching position – should check out the flexible working opportunities available.

The benefit of using Teaching Vacancies takes the hassle out of searching through lots of jobs sites for jobseeking teachers, by consolidating all relevant vacancies into one easy-to-use service making it a good time to be a teacher in the region. Once registered, job seekers can see all jobs at a glance and set up a job alert function so they will be alerted to roles that meet their search criteria and preferred working pattern as soon as they are advertised, ensuring that they do not miss their next teaching opportunity. The service allows job seekers to filter roles based on criteria including location, job title, education phase, working pattern and NQT suitability.

Extend Learning Academies Network is a Multi-Academy trust which consists of eight schools, with approximately 400 students based at each site. The academy employs around 160 teachers so the need for Teaching Vacancies was clear.

Speaking of Teaching Vacancies, Adam Matthews, CEO said, “Teaching Vacancies was a really obvious choice for us. It’s an official service provided by the Department for Education which means you know you can trust it, and best of all its completely free! The experience I’ve had with other job recruitment services is that typically they cost the school a lot of money and you never knew if it was a trusted source – this is particularly important when you’re looking to employ high quality teachers. I was surprised by how straight-forward the service was to use, once you get you’re log-in your ready to go.”

The Department is also working with schools in West Gloucestershire Opportunity Areas to drive down the cost of recruitment advertising and to improve the number of quality candidates applying for teaching roles.

Each of the Government’s 12 Opportunity Areas receive a share of £72 million for a tailored plan to improve social mobility for children and young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

A DfE spokesperson said: “This is a good time to be a teacher in the South West. We are delighted with the uptake of Teaching Vacancies and the positive impact this promises for our schools. If schools and job seekers continue to use the service, we can change the way recruitment happens in schools and make a real difference where it matters most.”

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

“Over two-thirds of schools in the South West have signed up to our Teaching Vacancies service, enabling them to advertise all of their teaching vacancies completely free of charge.

“This is just one of the ways that the Government is helping schools to make the most out of their funding so they can maximise the money they have to spend in the classroom, building on the £14 billion we are investing in schools over the next three years.”

Nationally, Teaching Vacancies has already been welcomed by the majority of schools, advertising over 19,213 vacancies nationally since 1 January 2019.

Schools and teachers interested in finding out more should go to: gov.uk/teaching-vacancies.