I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched schools make the same recruitment mistakes…
…and then wonder why the classroom still feels unsettled three weeks later.
After more than a decade in education recruitment (and now running R&A Education Solutions here in Kent), the patterns are clear. The schools that stay calm aren’t always the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones that avoid a handful of very common — and very costly — mistakes.
Here are the recruitment mistakes schools make most often, and what you can do differently this term.
1. Hiring for Speed Instead of Fit
When a teacher calls in sick or a TA leaves at short notice, the pressure to “just get someone in” is enormous.
The problem? “Available” and “right for your school” are rarely the same thing.
A cover supervisor who doesn’t understand your behaviour policy, or a teaching assistant who has never worked with the specific SEND needs in your class, can create more disruption than the original absence.
What works better:
Build a small, trusted pool of people who already know your school. When the phone rings at 7am, you’re not starting from zero.
2. Choosing the Cheapest Option
Budget pressure is real. But the lowest daily rate often becomes the most expensive choice once you factor in:
- Higher chance of the person not returning
- Extra management time
- Impact on pupil progress and behaviour
- The cost of finding a replacement again next week
I’ve seen schools switch to a slightly higher-quality agency or preferred supplier and actually reduce their overall supply spend because the same good people keep coming back.
3. Treating Supply Like a Revolving Door
Some schools accept that every day will bring a different face. That mindset is expensive — in every sense.
The Teaching Assistant who becomes part of the class, the Cover Supervisor the pupils already recognise, the teacher who walks in prepared because they were properly matched… those relationships don’t happen by accident.
Consistency is one of the highest-return investments a school can make in staffing.
4. Not Speaking to an Agency That Actually Knows Your School
Generic national agencies can fill a gap. Local, independent agencies that understand the difference between a Swale primary and a Medway secondary, or the specific challenges of a particular MAT, deliver something different.
When the person placing staff has actually visited your school, spoken to your SLT, and knows the personalities in the staffroom, the quality of match improves dramatically.
5. Leaving Safer Recruitment and Compliance to Chance
One of the quietest but highest-risk mistakes is incomplete checks or SCR gaps with agency staff. Ofsted and ISI still flag missing barred list information, incomplete overseas checks, and supply staff missing from the Single Central Record.
A good agency should make compliance feel effortless for you — not another admin burden.
6. Waiting Until the Crisis Hits
The schools that feel calm in October are usually the ones that started conversations in July and August.
Reactive recruitment is always more stressful and more expensive than proactive relationship-building.
How R&A Education Approaches Things Differently
At R&A we don’t just fill roles. We help schools stop making the same mistakes year after year.
That means:
- Taking time to understand your school culture and specific needs
- Matching people properly rather than just sending whoever is free
- Being available when you actually need us (including evenings and weekends)
- Focusing on consistency so the same reliable faces keep returning
- Full compliance and safeguarding support as standard
We’re a small, independent, Kent-based agency. You speak to me, not a call centre.
Ready to Avoid These Mistakes This Term?
If any of the warning signs above feel familiar, I’d be happy to have a proper conversation — no hard sell, just honest advice from someone who’s seen the pattern too many times.
Get in touch
Tommy Bird
Director, R&A Education Solutions