Responding to the comments made by the Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw on the number of teachers leaving the system to teach abroad, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, said:

“This is another stark consequence of government policy.

“The public education service is haemorrhaging teachers, not just to go abroad; equal numbers are leaving teaching to go to other more financially competitive jobs in this country.

“It is risible to talk about golden handcuffs when one of the biggest problems is schools not even offering newly qualified teachers permanent posts. The current recruitment bursaries place restrictions on teachers, but not even this is maintaining teacher numbers.”