More than 20,000 teachers working in academies exceeding national pay scales could see their benefits put at risk by the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Conservatives have claimed.
Under the new bill, which has its second reading in Parliament tomorrow, the statutory pay and conditions framework will be extended to include teachers in academies.
The Department for Education says no teacher will see their pay cut, but has declined to confirm that trusts will be able to continue offering enhanced pay and conditions to new staff.
Previous analysis by Tes revealed there are 533 schools in trusts across the country that either exceed national pay scales or differentiate on small points of the national deal.
Analysis by the Conservative Party estimated that 18,989 teachers working in these schools could be affected.
However, if a similar proportion of the trusts that did not respond to Tes’ data request were using their freedoms to boost teacher pay and conditions, “there are likely to be thousands more teachers currently benefiting from pay freedoms that Labour will harm”, the party said.
‘Attack’ on academies and free schools
The Conservatives called the bill “a significant attack on academies and free schools”. These same schools had helped “drive up standards”, they argued.
The bill will bring academies in line with maintained schools in several areas where they previously had freedoms.
Academies will also be required to follow guidance concerning the implementation of pay orders.
The government will ask the School Teachers’ Review Body to make recommendations on changes to the national framework and consider “additional flexibilities”.
There will be a consultation period, which will include representations from the academies sector. The changes will not be brought in before September 2026.
Speaking to Tes, schools minister Catherine McKinnell was not able to guarantee the bill would not result in salary cuts in trusts where pay and conditions currently deviate from national guidelines.
She confirmed no teacher would “suffer detriment” as a result of the changes.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott and shadow schools minister Neil O’Brien called the bill “educational vandalism”.
The bill also sets out a raft of other changes, including ensuring that all teachers have Qualified Teacher Status or are working towards it and that all schools follow the national curriculum.
It would also introduce a register of children who are not in school, and give councils greater powers over school admissions. All primaries would offer access to free breakfast clubs under the changes outlined in the bill.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will drive high and rising standards by giving all children access to the expert teachers they need, by providing a transparent, guaranteed pay and conditions offer across all state schools.
“No teacher will have their pay cut - in fact, the government will work with the independent pay review body to make the pay framework more flexible, ensuring teachers are more fairly recognised.
“We’re driving up standards everywhere by reforming Ofsted to end a culture of coasting schools, setting up RISE teams to set an expectation of excellence in every part of the country, and ensuring every family can rely on a good local school.”
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