GCA Supply Teacher Framework RM6376: What Recruitment Agency Leaders Must Change

The GCA supply teacher framework (RM6376) is the UK government’s approved route for schools and trusts to book agency supply staff. Every recruitment agency on it follows the same rules and price limits.  

For most education recruitment agencies, that changes five things mentioned below:  

• Pricing: your daily fee now has a cap  

• Income: schools can hire your staff for free after 12 weeks  

• Competition: a framework place doesn’t guarantee bookings  

• Contracts: schools should use GCA terms, not yours  

• Openness: schools must see what every worker costs  

This blog explains the GCA supply teacher framework, how much you, as an education recruitment agency, can charge your clients, five steps to protect your margins, and what to do if you’re not on it.

What is the GCA supply teacher framework (RM6376)?  

GCA supply teacher framework (RM6376) is a UK government procurement agreement that standardises how schools and trusts hire temporary, fixed-term, and permanent education staff through pre-approved education recruitment agencies.  

Who has to use it?  

Academy trusts must use it from September 2026. The DfE Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment buying guidance explains this academy trust supply staff mandate.  

How does RM6376 affect education recruitment agency margins? 

The RM6376 framework directly compresses education recruitment agency profit margins by forcing complete pricing transperancy and imposing strict and tiered caps on daily supplier fees.  

UK recruitment agencies cannot set their own percentage markups as the framework limits the daily agency fee to between £32 and £55 per booking, depending on the role.  

For example, the maximum agency fee is capped at £32 for clerical staff, £38 for special educational needs support, and up to £55 for senior leaders. 

Now that you know what the framework is, to whom it applies, and how much it affects your profit margin, let us now explore the fees you can charge under this framework to your clients.  

H2: How much can education recruitment agencies charge under RM6376?  

Under the RM6376 framework, education recruitment agencies can charge between £32 and £55 per day as their maximum supplier fee. 

The supplier fee is the daily amount your agency adds on top of worker pay to cover running costs and profit. Under RM6376, these daily amounts are capped by role: 

Think of the cap as a speed limit. It is the most you can charge per day, not the amount you have to charge. 

For example, the Department for Education showed a school paying £308 per day for a teacher, which included a £71 agency fee. Under RM6376, that supplier fee for a non STEM teacher can only be £40. That is £31 less profit on each daily booking, and the 1% framework fee still comes out of your £40. 

Because your fee per booking is smaller, you cannot rely on high margins. To stay profitable, you need to cut out wasted admin and fill bookings faster. And that’s where an offshore recruitment support partner can help.  

Now that you know what you can charge, let us look at what agency leaders must change next to stay profitable. 

What should recruitment agency leaders change? Five steps to protect your margins  

To stay profitable under RM6376, recruitment agency leaders like you need to change how your team runs daily desk work and back-office admin. Because your daily fee is locked, protecting your profit comes down to cutting wasted time and filling bookings faster. 

Here are the five practical steps you should follow to protect your margins:

Rebuild your pricing around the cap

First, your daily fee must cover finding candidates, running checks, managing payroll, and your profit. 

• In practice: Spending 40 minutes chasing references hurts your pocket a lot more on a £40 fee than it did on a £71 fee. 

• Action: Sit down this week and work out your true operational cost for every single booking.

Plan for the 12-week temp-to-perm rule

Next, under the 12-week temp-to-perm rule, schools can hire your temporary worker permanently for free after twelve weeks. Schools love this because it lets them try staff before making an offer. At the same time, permanent jobs are getting harder to find, with secondary school adverts dropping by 27% in just one year. 

• In practice: A teacher starting in September hits twelve weeks by Christmas. Come January, the school takes them on with zero fee paid to you. 

• Action: Focus your desk on longer placements and direct permanent hiring to make up for lost fees.

Compete on service, not just your framework badge

Getting onto Lot 1 gives you a seat at the table, but it does not guarantee you will get fed. With around 250 agencies on the list, schools still have plenty of choices. 

• In practice: Three agencies get the exact same call at 7:00 AM. The first one to send over a fully vetted, ready-to-work teacher wins the day. 

• Action: Time how quickly your team fills morning emergency bookings, and share those numbers directly with your schools.

Use GCA call-off terms, not your own

The official GCA call-off document is the only contract you should use for framework bookings. The Department for Education actively warns schools that signing an agency contract might void their fee caps and protections. 

• In practice: If you send your own terms of business to an experienced school business manager, you look out of touch and risk losing their trust. 

• Action: Check your paperwork templates this week to ensure your consultants send out only official GCA forms.

Be open about costs and protect worker pay

Finally, Schools are allowed to see an itemised breakdown showing worker pay, employer costs, and your cut. Good teachers are hard to find, and you already cannot offer the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. If you try to squeeze candidate pay to boost your profit, your best people will simply walk away. 

• In practice: A clear three-line invoice showing pay, costs, and your fee builds long-term trust. Sending a single total amount just raises questions. 

• Action: Update your billing setup so every invoice clearly splits candidate pay, employment on-costs, and your agency fee.

But what if your agency didn’t win a place? Don’t worry, you still have options.  

What if your agency isn’t on the GCA framework?  

If your agency is not on the GCA framework, missing out is a setback, but it is not the end. You cannot join until it reopens after April 2029, but you can still win plenty of work through: 

• Other legal contracts: You can still supply schools if your agreements follow the Procurement Act 2023 and cost no more than the framework caps. 

• Council run schools: Local authority maintained schools do not have to use RM6376, so the framework is completely optional for them. 

• Private schools: Independent and fee-paying schools sit outside government procurement rules altogether, so they cannot use it anyway. 

RM6376 readiness checklist 

So, where do you stand? Know that by identifying RM6376 Agency Readiness Checklist below: 

• Cost per booking worked out, including the 1% fee.  

• Contracts switched to GCA call-off terms.  

• Invoices split into pay, costs and fee.  

• Compliance audit up to date.    

How IMS People Possible UK Supports Education Recruitment Agencies 

The GCA supply teacher framework caps what you can charge, but agencies still need the right people and processes to fill bookings quickly without cutting corners on compliance. 

At IMS People Possible, we enable education recruitment agencies to protect their margins through tailored offshore recruitment services. 

Our teams support activities such as compliance management, candidate sourcing, database management and recruitment administration, giving your consultants more time to focus on schools, bookings and placements. 

Whether you’re on the RM6376 framework or winning work through other routes, we provide additional recruitment capacity that works alongside your existing team. 

Protect Your Margins Under RM6376 Without Adding to Your Workload  

How IMS people possible can help you  

IMS people possible can help your agency adapt to the new framework caps without sacrificing profitability. 

Higher fees used to hide slow admin. Now, every wasted hour costs you. That is where IMS People Possible UK comes in. With more than twenty years of experience supporting UK staffing agencies, IMS people possible gives you a dedicated offshore team that works inside your ATS, operates during UK working hours, and represents your brand: 

• Compliance management: Chasing references, verifying documents, and managing DBS checks so your candidates are cleared faster. 

• Administrative support: Updating candidate records, formatting CVs, and clearing back-office backlogs. 

• Sourcing and database management: Keeping candidate pipelines warm and mapped out ahead of morning rushes and new term surges. 

Your consultants stay free to win school bookings and build relationships, while your UK team still signs off on every check. 

Conclusion  

The GCA supply teacher framework has not ended agency supply. Demand remains high, with Teacher Tapp reporting that 21% of primary teachers say their schools lack suitably qualified staff. 

The cap sets your price, but your service and speed set your market share. 

Protect your margins by cutting wasted desk time, streamlining compliance, and giving your consultants the freedom to win bookings.