Teaching Staff & Teacher/Pupil Ratio

In 2011, there were 46,109 full time teachers in ISC schools; there were 18,216 part time teachers working a total of 259,531 hours.

The pupil/teacher ratio remained steady at 9.4:1 in 2011. The weighted pupil/teacher ratio (with each sixth former counted as two) was 10.9:1, down from 11.0:1 in 2010. This compares with a ratio of 16.6:1 for maintained mainstream schools (2010 figures). The low pupil/teacher ratio in the independent sector reflects many schools' commitment to teaching a wide range of subjects, even if class sizes are small and it is uneconomic to do so. Low pupil/teacher ratios are also important to many parents with children at independent schools. They allow many children to receive a uniquely supported and bespoke education.

Teacher turnover, as a proportion of the number of full-time staff employed, remained relatively constant at 12.7% in like-for-like terms. A total of 1,593 teachers from maintained schools took up posts in ISC schools in the academic year 2010/11, while 485 moved from ISC schools into the maintained sector, giving a net gain of 1,108.