On 29th July the Department of Education and the School Teacher’s Review Body (STRB) confirmed the teacher pay award for 2024-25. The STRB recommended a pay award of 5.5%, which will see classroom teachers and school leaders pay packets increase by up to £2,500 per annum.
There was concern surrounding the acceptance of the pay award due to the dissolution of Parliament in May. This is because decisions made by the new government would be deemed too late for schools and academies to confirm salary assumptions in their budgets for the new academic year.
The announcement was met with relief after the pay award was accepted in full, reflecting the vital contribution teachers make to children’s life chances.
Under the latest pay announcement, teachers’ starting salaries outside London and the Fringe will reach £31,650. The pay point for the upper pay range 1 will increase to £45, 646.
The pay range for leadership will be between £49,781 and £138,265 outside of London.
- What pay rise has been awarded?
The government has decided to accept the reported School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recommendation of a 5.5% pay rise for teachers in England as of September 2024. This increase was suggested to align with inflation and market conditions, synonymising a balance between affordability and fair compensation.
The pay award applies to maintained schools, with academies continuing to have freedom over their pay and conditions.
Allowance ranges for teaching and learning responsibility payments and special educational needs allowances, will also increase by 5.5%.
- When will the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document be released?
Regrettably, this is estimated to be in October 2024.
- Is the pay deal fully funded?
The government has confirmed that schools will receive £1.1 billion in additional funding to cover any financial costs in the 2024-25 academic year. Additional funding of £97 million will be granted for schools offering post-16 education and early years provisions.
Altogether this is an increase in funding of almost £1.2 billion.
- When will Teachers receive their pay rise?
The implementation of the new salaries will become effective from Autumn 2024 but pay will be backdated to 1 September 2024.
- Targeted Pay Adjustments
Additional financial incentives, e.g., Levelling Up Premium (LUP), have been suggested for teachers in subjects suffering from critical shortages with significant staffing difficulties. These incentives are being implemented to make roles more attractive and competitive in the sector. The pay adjustments are targeted to complement a general pay increase for all teachers to ensure fairness and transparency. It must be clear in your policy how and when these incentives will be paid and any other criterion which must be met or will be applied.
- What about writing/updating our pay policies?
Before making any adjustments to your pay policy, please ensure you read through the new non-statutory guidance “Managing Teachers’ and Leaders’ Pay”, this is applicable to maintained schools, MATs, academies and local authorities.
- What about writing/updating our appraisal and capability policies?
The Department for Education has published separate guidance on both appraisal and capability procedures which school may choose to adapt and adopt. Click here to read the “Teacher appraisal – guidance for schools”. Whilst academies and MATs are not legally obligated to follow this guidance, it is best practice to do so.
- Performance related pay?
Alongside the pay award, the requirement to use the performance-related pay systems are to be amended from September 2024. This is part of the non-statutory guidance mentioned above. Performance management, based on performance in the previous academic year (2023/2024) will be based on the standards previously set, however, when reviewing performance from the 2024/25 academic year, schools can choose not to retain the performance related pay elements so long as it is clear in the pay/appraisal policy and specifies what criteria will be used to assess performance.
Should your school/academy/trust opt to remove performance related pay requirements, you will be under no obligation to increase a teacher’s pay when they’re under formal capability proceedings. However, if your school/academy/trust opts to retain performance related pay, progression can only be withheld in the event of poor performance, as detailed in your pay and appraisal policy.
- Leadership Pay, are there any changes?
Pay ranges of Headteachers and Leadership Teams, in post, should only be reviewed when there have been significant changes to responsibility and/or the size of the school and not just because the top of the current pay range has been reached.
If you have any queries, feel free to get in touch with the FusionHR Team on 01924 827869 or click here to request a callback and one of the team will be happy to help. If you need help adjusting these pay levels in SAMpeople, our HR system, please contact your Customer Relationship Officer who will be happy to advise. Learn more about SAMpeople, the fastest growing education HR software.
