Annual Education Workforce Statistics
Annual Education Workforce Statistics for Wales 2025
Every year, we publish a detailed breakdown of the education workforce in Wales. These statistics have been produced using data from the Register of Education Practitioners.
The Register is real time and provides a unique source of data about the 13 registered education groups in Wales. No equivalent data is available from any other body or organisation. Consequently, comparison should not be made with other sources such as the Welsh Government School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC), also published annually. For the school sector in particular, unlike SWAC, our data includes all supply staff, peripatetic workers, freelance workers, and others who provide educaion or training in a school, as well as other education settings. We also hold significant historic data which enables us to provide trend information.
Considerations while reading the report
Legislation requires a practitioner to be registered in the category, or categories, for the work that they undertake, or intend to undertake. As a result, some practitioners are registered in multiple categories.
Since May 2024, new legislation has required practitioners in adult learning, and principals or senior leaders working in further education institutions to register with us. As a result, for the first time, data relating to adult learning practitioners and further education principals and senior leaders, is included in this publication.
Section 2: Maintained school sector
Section 3: Further education sector
Section 4: Adult learning sector
Section 5: Qualified youth sector
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Key findings
School teachers
The number of registered school teachers decreased in 2025 from 2024 by 1.7% (35,266 in 2025; 35,865 in 2024). This is the first decrease seen since 2021.
The majority of school teachers are female (75.8%) an increase of 0.2% on last year.
92.7% of school teachers declared their ethnicity as White an increase of 0.2% from last year (4.0% unknown). In respect of national identity, 64.3% identify as Welsh, 23.7% as British (an increase of 0.7% and decrease of 0.1% respectively when compared to last year) and 3.8% unknown.
The number of registrants who gained QTS five years ago, has decreased slightly (20.3% in 2025; 20.4% in 2024) but remains higher than it was in 2021 (19.2%).
The percentage of Welsh speaking school teachers is 33.4%. The number of school teachers who are able to work through the medium of Welsh is 26.9%. This is similar to previous years, with little year-on-year variance.
In Wales, QTS is non age range or subject specific. Of the secondary and middle school teachers that teach mathematics, English, or Welsh, 78.2%, 75.1%, and 69.7% respectively are trained in the subject they teach. In the foundation subjects, with the exception of information technology (42.4%), secondary and middle school practitioners that are trained in the subject they teach ranges from 72.6% to 87.7%.
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 75.9% remained registered in 2025 after five years with 22.0% not retaining registration with the EWC. Reviewing the 2015 cohort, 57.7% remained registered in 2025 after 10 years with 39.6% not retaining registration with the EWC.
School learning support workers
The number of registered school learning support workers stands at 45,887 in 2025. This has decreased 2.3% since 2024 (46,962).
A higher proportion (85.5%) are female in comparison to the other registration groups (0.2% less than last year). The next highest category with a higher proportion of female registrants is school teachers with 75.8%.
19.8% of school learning support workers are under 25 which is an increase of 0.8% from 2024.
79.0% declared their ethnicity as White and 11.8% are unknown. In respect of national identity, 46.6% of school learning support workers identify as Welsh, 11.7% are unknown.
21.0% are able to speak Welsh and 17.9% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh (8.5% and 8.6% unknown respectively).
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 50.2% of them remained registered in 2025 after five years, 10.1% moved into another registration category with 39.7% not retaining registration with the EWC.
Further education teachers
The number of registered FE teachers in 2025 (6,588) was 8.3% higher than in 2017 (6,083).
The gender split is more balanced in comparison to the school sector with 59.4% female 40.6% male (0.1% not specified).
46.6% of FE teachers are aged 50 years and over in comparison to 27.8% of school teachers.
80.7% of FE teachers declared their ethnicity as White (12.4% unknown). 48.5% of FE teachers declared their national identity as Welsh and 27.4% as British with 12.4% unknown.
18.8% of FE teachers declared they are fluent or fairly fluent Welsh speakers and 13.7% of FE teachers are able to work through the medium of Welsh (10.4% unknown in both).
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 60.8% of FE teachers were still registered in the same category after five years, 5.3% moved registration category, and 33.9% did not retain registration with the EWC.
Further education learning support workers
The number registered in the FE learning support worker category has increased from 4,222 in 2017 to 5,117 in 2025. However, this figure decreased from 2024 (6,212). This is partly due to the removal of individuals who were registered across multiple categories but did not require to be.
The majority of FE learning support workers are female (66.2%) which is different to FE teachers where gender is more balanced (59.4% female; 40.6% male).
83.2% of FE learning support workers declared their ethnicity as White (7.0% unknown). In respect of national identity, 46.1% identified as Welsh and 32.5% British (7.1% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 16.9% are able to speak Welsh and 11.4% are able to work through the medium of Welsh (6.2% unknown for both).
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 44.4% of FE learning support workers teachers were still registered in the same category after five years, 13.8% moved registration category, and 41.8% did not retain registration with the EWC.
Further education principals and senior leaders
A new addition to the statistics this year is the FE principal and senior leader category which has 361 registrants.
The gender split saw 54.8% female, 34.6% male, and the other 10.5% not specified.
50.7% of FE principals and senior leaders are 50 years or older, compared to 46.6% of FE teachers.
72.6% of FE principals and senior leaders declared their ethnicity as White (24.1% unknown). In respect of national identity, 42.7% identified as Welsh and 23.8% British (24.1% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 21.6% are able to speak Welsh and 16.3% are able to work through the medium of Welsh (21.3% unknown for both).
Work-based learning practitioners
The number registered in the WBL category has seen a decrease of 3.0% since 2024 (3,533 in 2024; 3,426 in 2025).
The gender split shows that 62.3% of WBL practitioners are female and 37.7% are male.
87.2% of WBL practitioners declared their ethnicity White (8.1% unknown). In respect of national identity, 51.3% identified as Welsh and 29.7% as British (8.1% unknown).
Of those who have made a declaration, 16.1% of WBL practitioners said that they are able to speak Welsh and 12.2% are able to work through the medium of Welsh (5.5% unknown in both).
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 46.6% of WBL were still registered in the same category after five years, 6.2% moved registration category, and 47.2% did not retain registration with the EWC.
Adult learning practitioners
Another new addition to the reporting statistics are community -based adult learning practitioners which has 284 registrants.
The gender split shows that 79.2% of adult learning practitioners are female, 18.3% male, and 2.5% not specified.
Like school teachers and WBL, the adult learning practitioner age range is fairly balanced, with a good spread of practitioners across the 30-60 age ranges. The 50-59 age group saw the highest percentage of registrants at 33.1%.
58.5% of adult learning practitioners declared their ethnicity as White (38.7% unknown). In respect of national identity, 37.3% identified as Welsh and 19.7% British (38.4% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 9.2% are able to speak Welsh and 3.9% are able to work through the medium of Welsh (37.3% and 38.0% unknown respectively).
Qualified youth workers
Qualified youth workers are eligible to register with the EWC if they hold one of the mandatory qualifications listed in the Regulations. The numbers registered in the youth work sector has increased 22.2% since 2018 (383 in 2018; 468 in 2025).
Like the other registration categories, the youth work sector is mostly female at 70.7%.
The age profile of youth support workers shows that most of the workforce are within the 30-39 and 40-49 age brackets standing at 28.4% and 29.1%. There are 13.5% who are under 30 years. The percentage of registrants aged 60+ is the lowest across all registrant categories at 7.1%.
80.1% of youth workers declared their ethnicity as White (13.2% unknown). In terms of nationality, 53.8% have declared their identity as Welsh, and 22.4% as British (13.5% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 15.6% of youth workers are able to speak Welsh and 10.5% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh (9.2% and 9.4% unknown, respectively).
From the 2025 data, 61.5% of youth workers remain registered in their respective categories after five years, 6.1% are registered in another category and 32.4% did not retain registration with the EWC.
Qualified youth support workers
Qualified Youth support workers are eligible to register with the EWC if they hold one of the mandatory qualifications listed in the Regulations. The numbers registered in the qualified youth support worker sector has increased 1.5% since 2018 (689 in 2018; 699 in 2025).
Like the other registration categories, the youth support work sector is mostly female at 70.1%.
The age profile of qualified youth support workers shows a similarity to qualified youth workers where most of the workforce are within the 30-39 and 40-49 age ranges standing at 29.5% and 24.9%. However, the biggest difference is that there are more who are under 30 years at 23.7% compared to 13.5% of qualified youth workers.
80.7% of youth support workers declared their ethnicity as White (14.2% unknown). In terms of national identity, 57.5% declared their identity as Welsh, and 21.2% as British (14.2% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 18.9% of youth support workers are able to speak Welsh and 15.0% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh (9.7% unknown in both).
Reviewing the 2020 cohort of registrants, 48.3% of qualified youth support workers were still registered in the same category after five years, 13.5% moved registration category and 38.2% did not retain registration with the EWC.
Independent school teachers
Since May 2023, practitioners working in the independent sector have been required to register with the EWC. The four independent registration categories were included in this publication for the first time in 2024. Therefore, with an additional year of data we can provide further analysis for the first time in this publication.
The number registered as independent school teachers has risen 9.4% from 1,817 in 2024 to 1,988 in 2025.
Like the other registration categories, the independent school teacher workforce is mostly female at 64.7%.
The age profile of independent school teachers is consistent with school teachers with the most individuals being within the 40-49 age group (30.7%)
85.7% of independent school teachers declared their ethnicity as White (6.4% unknown). In terms of national identity, 37.3% have declared their identity as Welsh, and 36.1% as British which is the highest percentage across all registration groups (6.3% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 9.8% of independent school teachers are able to speak Welsh and 3.4% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh, which is the lowest percentage across all registration categories (3.4% and 3.5% unknown respectively).
Independent school learning support workers
The number registered as independent school learning support workers has seen a 23.3% increase from 1,117 in 2024 to 1,378 in 2025.
Like the other registration categories, the independent school learning support workforce is mostly female at 71.0%.
The age profile of independent school learning support workers shows that 28.7% are under 30 (compared to 7.7% of independent school teachers).
83.1% of independent school learning support workers declared their ethnicity as White (7.2% unknown). In terms of nationality, 39.0% have declared their identity as Welsh, and 30.8% as British (7.2% unknown).
Of those who made a declaration, 9.5% of independent school learning support workers are able to speak Welsh and 3.6% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh. (3.5% and 3.6% unknown respectively).
Independent special post-16 institution techers
The number registered as independent special post-16 institution teachers has seen a 15.5% increase from 84 in 2024 to 97 in 2025.
Like the other registration categories, the independent special post-16 institution teacher workforce is mostly female at 75.3%.
The age profile of independent special post-16 institution teachers shows the largest groups are teachers aged 30-39 and 40-49, each respectively at 30.9%. In contrast only 7.2% are under 30.
82.5% of independent special post-16 institution teachers declared their ethnicity as White (9.3% unknown). In terms of national identity, 44.3% have declared their national identity as Welsh, and 28.9% as British (9.3% unknown).
From those who made a declaration, 17.5% of the independent special post-16 institution teachers are able to speak Welsh and 10.3% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh (4.1% unknown in both).
Independent special post-16 learning support workers
The number registered as independent special post-16 institution support workers has seen a 2.4% decrease from 292 in 2024 to 285 in 2025.
Like the other registration categories, the independent special post-16 institution learning support workforce is mostly female at 75.1%.
53.0% of independent special post-16 institution learning support workers are 39 years or younger.
70.9% of independent special post-16 institution learning support workers declare their ethnicity as White (16.1% unknown). In terms of national identity 35.1% have declared their national identity as Welsh, and 26.3% as British (16.1% unknown).
From those who declared, 7.7% of independent special post-16 institution learning support workers are able to speak Welsh and 2.5% have declared that they are able to work through the medium of Welsh (4.6% and 4.9% respectively).
Previous workforce statistics
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