The total numbers of teachers, teaching assistants and other support staff went up by 20,100 to 767,000.
The pupil-teacher ratio fell from 17.1 to one to 16.9 to one across nursery, primary and secondary schools, but there were more infant classes over 30.
Analyst John Howson of Education Data Surveys said it was difficult to account for the sudden jump in vacancy rates in the provisional statistics for 2008 published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Prof Howson said the change, especially in the West Midlands, "probably caught us all by surprise".
"What you can say is ... it's going to get worse because we know that in the subjects where the vacancies have gone up, they are struggling to recruit to target."
Related articles:
