We are delighted to share a thinkpiece by Jagdeep Pabla, Founder of National Education Diversity Awards (NEDA). Jagdeep argues that the future of education depends not only on student outcomes, but on building sustainable, inclusive cultures where teachers feel supported, valued and able to stay in the profession. Drawing on the FED National Education Futures 2025 report, it shows how workforce sustainability, recognition and everyday school practices directly shape long-term outcomes for students. If thriving teachers are the foundation of thriving students, what needs to change to make this the norm across the system? Read more below.
The Future of Education Depends on How We Look After Teachers
Conversations about the future of education rightly focus on students, their outcomes, opportunity and belonging. However, the future of education is shaped just as much by the people delivering it every day. The conditions in which teachers and school staff work directly influence the quality, consistency and sustainability of education for young people.
Across schools and academy trusts, workforce pressures around recruitment, retention and workload are now a familiar part of the landscape. These challenges are not separate from educational outcomes; they shape classroom experiences, staff wellbeing and the ability of schools to plan for the long term. Sustainable education systems depend on teachers and school staff who feel supported, valued and able to remain in the profession.
The Education at the Crossroads: Shaping a System That Works for Everyone (National Education Futures 2025) report brilliantly recognises the central role of the education workforce in shaping long-term outcomes. Alongside curriculum, assessment and system reform, the report highlights the importance of building capacity and resilience across the sector. As we look ahead, questions of workforce sustainability and school culture must sit at the heart of conversations about educational futures.
Supporting the workforce in practice
Supporting the teaching workforce is not an abstract challenge. It is reflected in everyday decisions about workload, flexible working, progression and trust. For many teachers, the ability to stay in the profession is shaped by how schools respond to different life stages and circumstances. This includes ethnicity and neurodiversity to support managing live events such as caring responsibilities, fertility journeys for all paths to parenthood, parental leave and the menopause.
Across the sector, schools are finding thoughtful ways to respond. Flexible working arrangements, family-friendly approaches, and supportive return-to-work practices are increasingly part of the conversation. Other schools are reflecting more intentionally on recruitment, progression and job design, ensuring that teachers with different backgrounds, experiences and ways of working can contribute and thrive.
Recognising the strength of teacher who bring transferable skills from other sectors is also taking place. Recruitment and progression pathways are valuing the diverse professional journeys of career changers entering teaching alongside traditional routes into teaching.
These approaches are not about lowering standards. They are about creating sustainable ways of working that enable excellent teaching to be maintained over time. This also ensures that teaching is an attractive career attracting the brightest and the best. When teachers feel trusted and supported, they are more likely to remain engaged, motivated and effective. This ultimately benefits our children and strengthens school communities.
Workforce sustainability and student outcomes
The link between workforce sustainability and student outcomes is clear. Continuity of staff matters. Experienced teachers bring deep professional knowledge, strong relationships with pupils, and stability to school teams. When schools retain their teachers, workload pressures are reduced, collaboration improves, and students experience more consistent support.
The National Education Futures report highlights the importance of long-term thinking. Retaining experienced teachers is one of the most significant long-term challenges facing the sector. It is also a huge opportunity. Schools that prioritise sustainable cultures for their workforce are better positioned to deliver high-quality education now and into the future.
Why recognition matters
One of the challenges in strengthening workforce practice across education is visibility. Many schools and academy trusts are already translating policy guidance and evidence into thoughtful, people-centred practice. They are actively embedding guidance on flexible working, family-friendly practice and inclusive workforce support into everyday culture. Yet this vital work goes unseen and unrecognised.
Recognition plays a powerful role in bringing this work to the surface. By celebrating schools and trusts that are building supportive, sustainable cultures for their workforce, we help to share learning, normalise effective practice and signal what the sector values. Recognition encourages reflection and provides space for the sector to learn from what is working well.
The National Education Diversity Awards (NEDA) were established to do exactly this. As the UK’s first awards celebrating inclusive teaching workforces and sustainable school cultures, NEDA shines a light on schools and academy trusts supporting teachers to stay, grow and contribute over the long term.
NEDA’s approach is rooted in three principles: Shine the Light, Share the Story, Shift the System. By highlighting positive practice, sharing stories from across the sector, and encouraging collective learning, NEDA aims to support a more sustainable future for education. A future that recognises the central role of the workforce in shaping student success.
Looking ahead
As the sector continues to navigate change and complexity, workforce sustainability must remain part of the conversation about educational futures. Supporting teachers is not a separate agenda; it is integral to delivering high-quality education for all students.
The future of education depends on our ability to build school cultures where teachers feel supported, valued and able to remain in the profession. By recognising and learning from schools that are already doing this well, the sector can move towards a more sustainable, resilient future.
When teachers thrive, students benefit and the foundations for strong educational futures are laid.