DfE Supply Teacher Framework 2026; what schools and trusts need to know

Let’s be clear… DfE Supply Teacher Framework 2026

What schools and trusts need to know

Changes to education recruitment and procurement have brought new guidance, new terminology and, understandably, plenty of questions for schools, trusts and candidates. 

Alongside the official guidance, there are also a number of claims and assumptions circulating about what the changes mean in practice – from which procurement routes schools can use, to understanding what compliant means. 

We want to help make things clearer. 

Each week, we’ll take a common claim we’re hearing from schools, trusts and the wider sector and look at the facts behind it – drawing on the guidance and our experience of supporting education providers with compliant, transparent recruitment. 

We’ll continue to add each new topic to this page, creating a straightforward resource you can return to as the changes become embedded. 

The Claim → What you may have heard. 

The Facts → What the guidance means in practice. 

We hope this guidance helps Trust recruitment teams understand the options available, distinguish between what the DfE has mandated and what is being said about the changes, and consider which procurement route and recruitment model best meets their needs for compliance, transparency and value. 

Do academy trusts have to use the GCA framework?

The Claim →

The GCA Framework offers the only compliant route for temporary staffing into schools and Trusts.

The Fact →

Schools and trusts can use alternative procurement routes provided they meet relevant procurement requirements, and the rates charged do not exceed the DfE price caps.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that all schools and trusts must use an agency supplier operating through the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) framework.  

That isn’t what the DfE guidance says.  

The DfE guidance makes clear that trusts may use an alternative framework or contract where it meets the requirements set out by the DfE, including compliance with the Procurement Act 2023, the relevant financial thresholds and the requirement not to exceed the available rates from the GCA framework.  

For schools and academy trusts, the public spend threshold for supply teacher and agency staff contracts under the Procurement Act 2023 is £207,720 (including VAT).  

If a maintained school, Single or Multi-Academy Trust doesn’t meet the thresholds then there is no need for a procurement exercise although it could prove beneficial using the framework pricing to compare and get a better than current rates deal.  

Where expected spend is above the relevant threshold, a growing number of procurement routes meet the requirements set out by the DfE, including established education staffing frameworks available from the Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) and Value Match.  

The DfE guidance states that where a framework is not used, a public procurement process also compliant with the Procurement Act 2023 should be undertaken.  

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The new requirements are changing the way education providers think about temporary staffing procurement, but compliance should only ever be the starting point.

Trusts still need to consider the wider impact of their recruitment model: transparency over costs, visibility of workforce data, accountability across the supply chain and, ultimately, whether the approach delivers sustainable value for schools.

The Supply Register offers compliant routes to market through both the CPC and Value Match frameworks, with rates below the newly introduced DfE price caps. More importantly, these routes give education providers the flexibility to choose a workforce model that reflects their individual needs and priorities.

As the new requirements become established, we would encourage trusts to return to the source, understand what the DfE guidance requires and fully explore the options available to them.

The procurement landscape may be changing, but the principles of good education recruitment remain the same: compliance, transparency and value.