No more than 6,400 teachers would qualify for salary rises this year, under plans published by the Department for Education this morning.
And those who do get a rise would only have £250 added to their salaries.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in November that there would be a public sector pay freeze, apart from for doctors and nurses, and public sector workers on less than £24,000 - who would receive a pay rise of at least £250.
This morning the DfE has revealed in evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body that it estimates that around 5,200 full-time equivalent unqualified teachers “may be eligible for the £250 award”.
Coronavirus: No 2021 teacher pay rise as Sunak ‘pauses’ salaries
Gavin Williamson: Pause teacher pay so the private sector keeps up
Anger: £30K new teacher pay by 2022 pledge is dropped
Unions: Freezing pay would be ‘a slap in the face’ for teachers
But it adds: “We outline several examples of how adjustments could be calculated for the differentiated London pay ranges, which could increase the estimated number of unqualified teachers receiving the award to 6,400.”
Teachers hit by public sector pay freeze
The DfE also acknowledges that there are examples of academies paying qualified teachers less than £24,000, even though this is less than the £25,714 bottom of the qualified teacher pay range for maintained schools.
But the DfE says these are “incredibly rare” and its data shows that only 0.2 per cent of qualified teachers in academies are paid below the maintained school pay range.
“In many cases, these are likely to be data errors and do not necessarily place the teacher below the £24,000 threshold,” the evidence continues.
“And these teachers are not covered by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, so academies will be able to make their own decisions about how to uplift pay for any qualified teachers who do earn under £24,000 currently.”
Mr Sunak said in November that the coronavirus pandemic had “deepened the disparity” between public and private sector wages and that he could “not justify” an across-the-board public sector pay rise.
