An attempt to discover the real reasons why teachers quit their jobs has caused confusion in Kent.

The county council arranged for a confidential questionnaire to be set up. Employee retention specialists Talent Drain said in the publicity material: "Kent employs around 13,000 teachers in 600 primary, secondary and special schools. In line with the national average, the county loses around 10 per cent of its teachers each year."

Not surprisingly, this led to national publicity about 1,300 teachers leaving Kent schools. But when we checked the figures we discovered the 1,300 refers to turnover and that only between 110 to 120 people actually leave the profession.

Who says? Kent County Council.

Confused? Watch this space. We've dropped our Speak Out and poll on this issue until we get clarification.