England is one of the few countries where teacher salaries have declined in real terms over the past decade, according to a major new study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Education at a Glance report published by the OECD is an international comparison of national statistics measuring the state of education worldwide.
The report shows that there were only five countries in the study where actual teacher salaries decreased in real terms in at least one level of education.
They fell by more than 6 per cent in real terms in England between 2010 and 2020, according to the report.
The OECD said that average actual salaries for “lower secondary” school teachers decreased in real terms in England between 2010 and 2015 and then increased from 2015 to 2021, but overall they decreased over the period 2010-21.
The report also shows that the increase in teacher salaries seen since 2015 in England has been lower than the OECD average for experienced teaching staff.
Across OECD countries between 2015 and 2021, statutory salaries of teachers at lower-secondary level with 15 years of experience and the most prevalent qualifications increased by 6 per cent in real terms.
Salary increases were below the OECD average in England over this period, increasing by just 4 per cent, the report says.
Today’s report finds that secondary-school teachers in the state sector in England earn less than other “tertiary-educated” workers on average.
In England, the average salary of lower-secondary teachers is 5.3 per cent lower than other tertiary-educated workers.
The OECD report said that this is consistent with the international picture as teachers’ average actual salaries remain lower than the earnings of tertiary-educated workers in almost all OECD countries, and at almost all levels of education.
Teacher salaries: impact of the Covid pandemic
School closures took place across all OECD countries during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report suggests that the UK’s approach was not an outlier during the pandemic.
In England, during the 2019-20 academic year, the OECD found that primary schools were closed for 34 days and partially closed for 38 days.
At secondary, schools were closed for 44 days and partially closed for 28 days.
Meanwhile, during the 2020-21 academic year, both primary and secondary schools were fully closed for 44 days.
In 2021-22, schools at all levels of education remained fully open.
In a table that ranks OECD countries by days of Covid-related school closures, the United Kingdom is the 14th highest out of 27 nations.
The report also notes how national examinations have also been affected by the pandemic.
At general upper-secondary level, 18 OECD countries postponed their national examinations during the school year 2019-20, while 10 countries cancelled them entirely.
In 2020-21, national examinations were postponed in nine countries and cancelled in six countries. England cancelled its national examinations in both 2019-20 and 2020-21.
On working hours, the OECD report notes that in England, “there are no official documents quantifying school heads’ working time”.
England was one of only a handful of countries involved in the study where this was the case, along with the Flemish Community of Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg.
