UK staffing firms accused of excessive profits in supplying schools
UK staffing firms accused of excessive profits in supplying schools

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Supply teacher recruitment firms in the UK have made hundreds of millions of pounds as state schools struggle with staff shortages, a Daily Mail investigation revealed.
Schools spent more than £1.2 billion on supply teachers in 2022-23, with agencies estimated to have taken over £300 million in fees. With data from the TaxPayers’ Alliance showing that nearly 14,000 teachers called in sick daily in 2023-24, the reliance on private firms has soared as 93% of state school vacancies are now being filled through recruitment agencies.
The investigation highlighted two supply teacher agencies that were alleged to be ‘cashing in’ on the state schools staffing crisis, including Just Teachers and Zest Education. Both firms were seen rewarding some of their workers with trips to Spain.
Chris McGovern, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher and founder of the Campaign for Real Education, branded the company holiday photos of Zest education employees a ‘slap in the face to teachers everywhere’.
A spokesman for Zest Education told the Daily Mail, “We definitely don’t exploit our schools but rather support them by sponsoring forest school events for special needs students, school shoes for disadvantaged students at several schools, behaviour incentives along with several other things to support our schools and their students.”
A Just Teachers Ltd spokesman also said, “We run occasional team building and training events to reward our best staff who often work 12-hour days to support UK schools. Our margin covers the cost of our staff, a network of premises in the UK and Australia, systems and general overheads, leaving us with a relatively small net profit.”
In 2023-24, the amount spent on agencies by local authority-maintained schools rose to about £522 million, more than the approximately £411 million spent in 2019/2020, before the pandemic, the TaxPayers’ Alliance found. In 2022-23, academies spent £751 million on supply staff, while local authority schools spent £486 million – more than £1.2 billion of taxpayer money in total, and nearly double the £738 million spent in the year before the pandemic.
An audit by the Mail, which examined the accounts of ten leading supply teacher agencies, all recommended by the UK government, found on average the companies keep around 28% of the amount they charge state schools after covering the wages of locum staff. This would mean recruitment firms would have made around £346 million in fees if they all charged the average 28%. The report did not consider any of the costs a staffing firm would incur in order to justify the margins they charge.
The investigation noted that a report published by the Department of Education last September found the average cost of a supply teacher to a secondary school is £291 a day. The estimated average daily take-home pay of a cover teacher was £150, which would indicate that the agencies are taking £141 a day per teacher, or a cut of nearly 50% on average.
Lorraine Laryea, of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, told the Daily Mail, “Supply agencies play a crucial role in supporting schools by providing skilled staff to ensure the continuity of high-quality education for pupils.”
SIA reached out to the REC for further comment.
Labour MP and Commons education committee member Darren Paffey also told the Daily Mail, “These companies should remember that it’s taxpayers’ money they are paid with. Excessive profit made from children’s education – particularly when the sector faces the challenges it currently does – is just plain wrong.”