Education recruiters are benefitting from a "near recession proof" sector with increasing demand for personnel. Traditional skills shortages in maths and science are being compounded by the head teacher retirement time bomb and an increased lack of technology personnel.

"The teaching sector hasn't experienced the kind of downturn of other, more commercial, sectors. It isn't recession proof, but it works to a very different dynamic," Richard Keogh, commercial director at online jobs board, Jobs in Education, told Recruiter. He explained that spending on teachers remains stable because it is secured by pre-agreed government budgets.

A continued campaign by the Labour government has led to a rise in teacher numbers. Last year alone the overall school workforce increased by 20,100 to 767,600, according to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The statistics show spending on supply teachers from agencies increased by £8.2m between April 2006 and March 2007, accounting for a 1.8% increase in agency, over direct, recruitment.

Schools haven't evolved their recruitment methods to meet the increase in demand for personnel, according to Jules Blundell, director of education recruiter Blue Wave International.

"Schools' recruitment processes tend to be quite traditional. They will spend loads and loads of money advertising in the Times Education Supplement and it's not necessarily the best avenue.

"I can fill the gaps if they are bad at recruitment," she added.

The skills shortages in teaching have traditionally centred around maths and science, but have increased to include other subjects.

"We are now noticing them in design and technology, and information, communication and technology," said Blundell.

Some recruiters believe the job role itself is causing problems, when trying to attract staff. "The maths and science teachers are generally very clever people. It's just whether or not the attraction package, the remuneration, the whole teaching profession is attractive to those people — that's what we are battling with," Craig Boucher, UK chief executive at Verity Education UK, told Recruiter.

Schools are facing increasing difficulty hiring head teachers, thanks to a lack of new recruits coming through the ranks. "There is a crisis waiting to happen. We're sitting on the edge of a precipice. We're expecting head teacher retirements to peak in about 2010 and 2011, and between 2009 and 2013 we are going to face a real dilemma," Peter Flannery, managing director of education recruiter, Select Education, told Recruiter.

The buoyant education recruitment market has attracted more specialist agencies. "There are far too many people in it. It is very competitive. It makes us more accountable and forces us to work harder," said Boucher.

Blundell agrees: "The industry is now saturated with agencies, some of them are good, some are bad."

Recruiters who supply teaching candidates from non-EU countries worry that the government's new points-based immigration system will stem candidate supply, when tier two comes into effect in November (Recruiter, 25 June). The tier covers skilled immigrants and will require schools to become sponsors and take on a raft of new responsibilities.

"Historically the schools have relied heavily on these teachers," said Boucher. "It is going to have quite a big impact on London, because London is dependent on non-EU national teachers."

The lack of support from the Home Office has meant many schools have failed to register for a sponsor's licence and may have to temporarily stop hiring these kinds of candidates, Boucher added.

The reed.co.uk salary index shows a slight year-on-year increase in job postings from 4,500 in June 2007 to around 4,600 this year, with vacancy numbers peaking at 6,600 in December. Salaries remained level, until May when they increased from an average of £31,000 to £33,000.

l Sourced from reed.co.uk's salary index

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