A leading heads’ union has said it will consult its members to see if they wish to take “industrial action” in response to what it described as a “wholly inadequate” teacher pay award from the government.
And a sector leader representing school trusts warned that ministers deciding to increase teacher pay without extra funding to meet it will leave schools and academy trusts unable to set a balanced budget.
The Department for Education will award experienced teachers a 5 per cent pay rise from September 2022, it has announced today.
This is more than the DfE had originally proposed in March (3 per cent) but falls far short of the “fully funded, inflation-plus pay increase” demanded by teaching unions, with the current consumer prices index inflation rate at 9.1 per cent.
Teacher starting salaries for outside London will rise by 8.9 per cent in September this year, reaching £28,000, as part of the announcement.
Teacher pay award the ‘worst of all worlds’
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said that the pay award represented the “worst of all worlds”, because it represented a ”substantial real-terms pay cut” for the majority of teachers but also gave “no additional money for schools to afford the cost”.
He said: “This pay award is wholly inadequate and represents the worst of all worlds - a substantial real-terms pay cut for the majority of teachers, which will worsen teacher shortages, and no additional money for schools to afford the cost of the award, thereby exacerbating the dire financial situation they face because of rising costs.
“It is a double whammy that lets down the teaching profession and the pupils in our schools.”
And Mr Barton added: “The government’s excuse for a below-inflation pay award is that it wants to avoid an inflationary spiral. However, the fact is that it has found one reason or another to cut teacher pay for the past 12 years - austerity, Covid, inflation.
“It seems that loyal, hard-working public servants are always expected to take the hit. Unsurprisingly, they have had enough and we - like other unions - will be consulting our members to see whether they wish to take industrial action in response to this decision.”
NEU to consult members in autumn
Other unions have also expressed dismay at the pay award. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said that the union would “look towards” consulting members in the autumn, calling the award “very poor”.
He added: “Teachers don’t want to strike - they want to be in the classroom teaching our pupils. But we cannot stand by and watch the biggest real-terms decline in teacher pay this century. This pay offer will do nothing to recruit, retain and value teachers and protect our children’s education.”
Pay for experienced teachers who have been in the profession for more than five years will rise by 5 per cent in the next academic year - an increase on the government’s initial proposal of 3 per cent.
The DfE says the pay uplifts come alongside provisional school funding figures released today for the 2023-24 financial year, in which the core schools budget “is set to receive a £1.5 billion boost”.
Lack of funding for pay award risks redundancies
But school leaders have warned that the lack of new money to support the pay increases would place extra strain on budgets.
Rob McDonough, chair of the Confederation of School Trusts and chief executive officer of the East Midlands Education Trust, said he was concerned the rise was “not within school budgets”
“We will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Trade unions will not like this, as it is not what they requested. Similarly we won’t have this in our budgets. I tend to follow what the secretary of state has made in his recommendation to the STRB [the School Teachers’ Review Body, which makes recommendations on teacher pay], because, by and large, that is what tends to happen”, he said.
“Obviously, this is now extraordinary circumstances, but my concern is that it is not within school budgets and not being funded.”
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, added: “It is very important that teachers and leaders are paid properly and in a way that recognises the recent very significant cost-of-living rises.
“However, this pay settlement is not affordable within existing resources, especially in the context of unprecedented energy costs and other inflationary pressures for schools. It is essential that the government commits to a funded pay settlement.
“Without funding to meet this pay settlement, many schools and trusts will not be able to set a balanced budget.”
And Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said leaders may have to consider cuts or redundancies as a result.
“Worryingly, the government has said there will be no new funding for this pay award,” he said. “This will put enormous and unsustainable pressure on school budgets. Ultimately, this could lead to a situation where schools are having to consider cuts to essential services or even redundancies.
“Despite the weighty responsibilities that leaders’ shoulder, and their enormous contribution to the nation through these pandemic years, government has once again come up with a pay award that will see them earning less in real terms.”
Education secretary James Cleverly said that the DfE was delivering “significant pay increases for all teachers, despite the present economic challenges”.
He said the pay rise for starting salaries “will attract even more top-quality talent to inspire children and young people and reward teachers for their hard work”.
Writing for Tes today he added: “This need to pitch the pay rise at a manageable level has been one of the key factors in our decision-making. Thankfully, we fought for and secured a generous school funding settlement at last year’s Spending Review.
“The settlement is heavily frontloaded with £4 billion extra going into schools this year and a total increase of £7 billion over the three years up to 2024-25.”
The NFER’s school workforce lead, Jack Worth, said the foundation welcomed the pay review body’s recommendation for teacher pay to increase by more than the Government initially proposed in March, especially for experienced teachers, and that the DfE had accepted the recommendation.
He added: “Our analysis back in June, which we partnered with the Gatsby Foundation for, showed that the Government’s original proposals were insufficient to tackle the growing teacher recruitment and retention challenges, especially in STEM subjects, and recommended that the Government revise its pay award.
“However, we are disappointed that the Government has not provided any new funding to cover the additional pay increase. Underfunded teacher pay rises could have costly impacts, such as staff redundancies and reduced resources for other provision, which will be detrimental to pupils’ learning.
“The Department for Education should urgently be working with the Treasury to get additional funding for schools in the Autumn budget.”
