Poor pay and low morale is leading to a recruitment crisis in further education colleges, according to the Association of Colleges (AoC).

The AoC says vacancies for teaching posts in colleges were up 25% on this time year.

Many FE lecturers were being lured into schools, sixth form colleges or the private sector because of better remuneration packages, the AoC warned.

Urgent action is needed to stem the haemorrhage of staff out of the sector into schools and industry

Paul Mackney, Natfhe

The association points to a starting salary for school teachers of �17,595 compared to �14,581 for a FE lecturer.

Lecturers and colleges are currently locked in a bitter debate over a 2.3% pay rise, with lecturers saying it is not enough and colleges saying they cannot improve the offer.

Strike action could go ahead next month, disrupting students' studies.

Nevertheless the lecturers' union, Natfhe, and colleges are standing side by side to urge the government to close the gap between FE and school teachers' pay.

Vacancies 'widespread'

The government though has made it clear its main concern is to see standards in FE rise - colleges which fail to improve results be closed.

In June, education secretary Estelle Morris said there was not enough good quality overall and standards were not as high as learners deserved.

Research by the AoC, which represents colleges in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, suggests nine out of 10 colleges had vacancies.

In all 3,000 lecturer and 5,000 support staff posts were unfilled and the lecturer vacancy rate was, at 2.4%, double that of schools, the survey showed.

The most acute shortages were in engineering and technology, basic skills, construction, visual arts, English as a second language, science and working with students with learning difficulties.

Future employers

The AoC said there was also a 44% increase in support staff and management vacancies, with almost 5,000 positions vacant across the sector.

AoC director of employment policy, Ivor Jones, said:

"Our research shows the vast majority of colleges (83%) see the lower salary in local colleges compared with schools and sixth form colleges having a major impact on the retention of staff."

"This eventually will impact on both students and their future employers in the form of the courses colleges are able to offer."

Paul Mackney, general secretary of Natfhe, said: "The failure to raise staff pay is having dire consequences, and I predict it will get worse."

"These figures show that urgent action is needed to stem the haemorrhage of staff out of the sector into schools and industry."

The AoC said it is talks with the government to secure better packages such as "golden hello" deals which could see student debts written off for those going straight into further education teaching.