MEDIA HUB Employment RESOURCES

If you’re a teacher, teaching assistant, school administrator, or support staff member wondering whether you’ve “missed the boat” for September roles — you’re not alone.

As the academic year draws to a close, schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts are often balancing far more than recruitment alone. Budget planning, staffing restructures, timetabling, transition arrangements, and exam season can all push hiring further down the priority list.

May is a pivotal month in education recruitment. For schools, the countdown to September is already well underway. Staffing structures are being finalised, vacancies need to be filled, and leaders are thinking carefully about how to build strong, stable teams for the next academic year. For candidates, May is often a decision-making month too. Teachers, leaders and support staff may be considering their next step.

Explore how school leaders can use the summer term effectively to review staffing needs, plan for leadership succession, and align recruitment with wider school improvement priorities.

Applying for a teaching or support role? Here’s what the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes for SSP, parental leave, bereavement leave, harassment protections and unfair dismissal.

Key changes from the Employment Rights Act 2025 and what they mean for schools and trusts — policy updates, HR processes, recruitment, budgeting, and compliance across 2026–2027.

Teacher burnout isn’t a new conversation in education — but in 2026, it’s a different one. Over the past few years, schools, trusts and policymakers have taken visible steps to address workload, wellbeing and retention.

The education job market has evolved rapidly in recent years — and so have candidate expectations. In 2026, teachers, leaders and support staff are no longer looking for recruiters who simply forward CVs or chase vacancies. They expect expert guidance, transparency and genuine partnership.