The Management of Substitution Cover for Teachers : Follow-up Report

This is a follow-up to the Northern Ireland Audit Office's (NIAO) 2002 report on the management of substitution cover for teachers (ISBN 9780339401204).

Principal among the findings is that the cost of substitutes covering for teacher absences has increased significantly - up in real terms by 40 per cent since 2000-01, to over GBP 66 million in 2008-09.

An additional consequence of this increase in the incidence of substitution cover is the possibility of it having a negative impact on pupil learning and achievement.

Historically, data on teacher attendance and substitution cover has been limited and unreliable and the report expresses disappointment that it has taken six years to implement a new management information system to improve the situation.

Moreover, ongoing software problems continue to impede the Department, employing authorities and schools in developing a more effective understanding of the costs, patterns and levels of substitution cover. The report recommends that there is a need to build up a profile of teacher absence across schools which will allow managers to identify patterns of absences and help them to understand and respond to the range of factors which influence, and are influenced by, teacher absence.

The report concludes that teacher workforce planning at the strategic level needs to ensure that the numbers of newly qualified teachers coming through the training system is in line with the numbers needed to fill vacancies and provide substitute cover given the numbers of re-employed teachers who continue to provide temporary cover in schools.