Teachers 'offered days off' in bid to improve recruitment and retention

Extra days off, free lunches, and salary increases are being granted to teachers amid dwindling recruitment figures.

As well as falling hiring numbers a record 50,000 left the industry last year, which is the highest since records began in 1997; a quarter of teachers quit after a decade.

A TES Global study found that London, the South East, and the West Midlands are struggling to fill teaching positions for maths, English and physics.

London, Yorkshire and Humber, and North West England have also experienced the quickest falls in recruitment rates since 2012.