Schools UK, a leading provider of absence protection and wellbeing services for schools, has recently been appointed as a supplier on the Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) Staff Absence Protection and Reimbursement Services framework. This appointment will provide schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts (MATs) with a trusted and fully compliant route to securing absence protection and wellbeing support.
The education sector in the UK is currently facing a crisis in workforce health, with rising absence rates and burnout among staff. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Education (DfE) highlight the severity of the issue, with the UK seeing its highest sickness absence rate since 2004 in 2022. In schools specifically, recent figures show that on 21 July, 5.5% of teachers and school leaders and 5.1% of teaching assistants and other staff were absent for any reason from open schools. This ongoing disruption in the education workforce is reflected in the 2023 School Workforce Census, which reports a 20% increase in teacher vacancies from 2022 to 2023 and a continuing rise in pupil-to-teacher ratios.
In response to this growing demand for dependable absence protection and staff wellbeing services, Schools UK has been appointed to the CPC framework. This will provide schools with fast and FCA-regulated absence insurance, along with human-first wellbeing support, all delivered through a pre-vetted route that schools can trust.
As an FCA-regulated and FSCS-protected provider, Schools UK offers insurance-backed absence protection with a guaranteed claim payment. This means schools can rely on secure and responsive support, even in times of high absence rates. Key features of their services include AXA-underwritten absence insurance, an average payment time of just 3 days for valid claims, and a secure, paperless claim portal with live tracking. In addition, Schools UK provides a Gold Wellbeing Programme, which supports staff, governors, and close family members, at no additional cost.
With over 27 years of experience and thousands of schools already supported nationwide, Schools UK is dedicated to providing practical solutions that support both operational continuity and the wellbeing of the education workforce. This appointment to the CPC framework will allow even more schools to benefit from their trusted and reliable services.
Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Schools UK, on Tuesday 3 June, 2025. For more information subscribe and follow https://pressat.co.uk/ on Twitter.
