DCSF, Schools Recruitment Service - Schools Recruitment Service Home page

Welcome to the information website for the new Schools Recruitment Service

James Knight
"The provision of an outstanding workforce is a crucial factor in delivering a world class education system for our children. With around 150,000 teaching vacancies per year in English schools, this represents a mammoth challenge for local authorities and schools. The new Schools Recruitment Service can provide them with invaluable support in this area, enabling them to recruit both teaching and support staff more effectively and efficiently while making savings on time, resources and money."

- Schools Minister Jim Knight

Schools Recruitment exhibits at BETT 2009
DCSF's new Schools Recruitment Service is to exhibit at the forthcoming BETT Show.

New service steams ahead

DCSF is moving rapidly towards the launch of its new Schools Recruitment Service.

The new online system is being developed to provide schools and local authorities in England with a better process for recruiting permanent teaching and support staff. Due to launch in early 2009, the service has already received hundreds of inquiries from local authorities, schools and other organisations.

Having exhibited at this year's National Children and Adult Services and National Bursars' Association conferences, the service is now to feature at BETT 2009.

The service is designed to provide local authorities and their schools with a more efficient, standardised application system, automation of routine administrative processes, better intelligence around candidate behaviour and attraction, and informed media performance. The result will be a more efficient, time effective and economical recruitment process.

Applicants will benefit from the new facility too. They will be able to take advantage of a more user-friendly, standardised system enabling easier completion and return of all forms.

The service is being developed in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from local authorities and schools, as well as suppliers and departmental colleagues.

Now the offer is open to local authorities and schools nationally to become early adopters of the new system and benefit from financial support during the first two years of the contract. If you are interested in becoming an early adopter, please complete the information form.

Alternatively, to find out more about the service you can download a leaflet:
Leaflet for early adopters ( PDF 75KB)
Leaflet for job applicants ( PDF 75KB)

Or watch the video:

Low resolution video for slower dial-up connections
Medium resolution video
High resolution video for faster broadband connections
Flash version video

The Schools Recruitment Service supports the recruitment of permanent teaching and support staff. Information on recruitment of temporary workers/supply staff is available here.

Schools recruitment - the facts

450,000 teachers work in over 20,000 maintained schools in England
150,000 vacancies estimated per year with turnover around 20%
Typically, secondary schools have 10-20 teaching vacancies per year and primary schools have 1.6
Recruitment of head teachers has become increasingly difficult - re-advertising for secondary head teacher posts has doubled over 10 years.

Service Features

The Schools Recruitment Service will feature an applicant tracking tool which will allow local authorities and schools to:

improve their market knowledge of teacher recruitment
track the candidate from application to appointment stage
post vacancies, book and formulate advertisements
filter, track and respond to applications
evaluate the success of recruitment campaigns.

Benefits to users:

Improved schools recruitment processes both now and for the future
Savings to schools and local authorities on time, resources and money
Improved market intelligence, better targeted advertising
Better matching of candidates to jobs
Better service for applicants - efficient, user-friendly and standardised
Sustainability - the online service will significantly reduce paper usage.

Some comments from our early adopters and schools/local authority stakeholders:

"Best thing to hit schools from the Department in years" ... Birmingham

"It's a good idea and definitely the sort of thing we need" ... Southend

"Very interested in the service" ... Lancashire

"I wish I were the decision maker because I'd sign up now" ... Warwickshire