BRADFORD schools have hit a crisis point when it comes to keeping or attracting new teachers, according to the National Education Union.

It comes after new figures suggested teaching vacancies advertised across the city rose significantly last year.

Data from teaching jobs site TeachVac shows schools in Bradford posted 1,085 vacancies through its website over the course of last year – up by 63 per cent on 666 the year before.

Of these, 392 were advertised by primary schools and 693 by secondary schools.

On the figures, Tom Bright, Bradford branch secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: "It is horrible but it is not a shock.

"People keep leaving schools, it is an ever-decreasing pool of available employees.

"People are choosing to leave the profession. Stresses are becoming greater and greater so it is not a surprise to me that is the level of vacancies.

"Everybody working within the school is feeling the stresses and asking themselves 'why am I putting myself through this?'.

"Support staff can earn more money working in supermarkets with less stress.

"Many subjects can be translated to something else, maths teachers are getting jobs as accountants for example.

"If you can translate those skills why would you put yourself in the pressure cooker that is a school?

"This is not just linked to Bradford, this is across all schools in the country."

Across England, teacher vacancies increased significantly in 2022 as the profession faced increasing recruitment and retention pressures following the coronavirus pandemic – job listings on TeachVac increased from 64,283 in 2021 to 107,104 last year.

Some jobs can be listed more than once if they are not initially filled, and not every teaching vacancy is posted on the TeachVac site.

Mr Bright said the reason behind the increase in vacancies is down to several factors.

These include poor pay, lack of support and issues around pupil behaviour.

He added: "Financial pressures have meant that schools have been reducing the amount of support in the classroom.

"You are having to do more for the same amount of money. Teacher wages have not increased above inflation in the last decade. Everybody is feeling it.

"The pandemic meant a lot of people reflected and asked 'why should I put myself under that stress when other people in similar jobs are being able to work from home and have more of a work-life balance?'.

"It is not just about the pay it is the working conditions. The additional pressures of marking, preparing lessons, and giving feedback is grinding people down.

"Behaviour has been an issue because kids who became acclimatised to not being in school during the lockdown are finding it difficult to return. There has been a bit of a shift in student behaviour.

"You have got that mismatch of what parents want in terms of their children being well locked after and what the school can deliver. That is one of the real stresses that staff are facing."

Attracting new people to the profession is also proving difficult.

Mr Bright added: "It takes too long. If you graduate, it takes three years and during that time you are under scrutiny as to whether you are a fit enough person to be in the profession or not.

"The skill of being a teacher is not something everyone can do. One in five teachers leave within one year.

"Everyone wants experienced teachers but they don't want to pay them because they have not got the money.

"You have got to question why would you come to Bradford? We have got some fantastic scenery and property prices are cheap but none of those things are enough of a draw to the problem of education being underfunded and under-rewarded."

The Department for Education said there are 24,000 more teachers working in state-funded schools than in 2010.

A spokesperson said tax-free bursaries worth up to £27,000 and a new £3,000 premium encourage trainees to teach subjects including maths, physics, chemistry and computing.

They added: "We are making the highest pay awards in a generation – 5% for experienced teachers and more for those early in their careers, including an up to 8.9% increase to starting salary."