Its latest workforce survey revealed that almost 9% of the teaching workforce, equivalent to around 40,000 teachers, left state schools last year. On top of that, 4,000 teachers retired.
The number of unfilled teaching vacancies is also at a record high, with 2,300 posts left empty and 3,300 posts filled by supply teachers.
The teaching workforce suffered higher levels of sickness last year, with more than 3 million days of sickness absence taken, up 50% on 2018-19.
The DfE said that despite these challenges, the number of entrants into teaching was still higher than the number leaving.
